Population health

The survey was conducted during the summer of 2003 using a representative sample of residents aged 12 and older from the nine communities in Iiyiyiu Aschii: Chisasibi, Eastmain, Mistissini, Nemaska, Oujé- Bougoumou, Waskaganish, Waswanipi, Wemindji, and Whapmagoostui.

• The population of Iiyiyiu Aschii is primarily young: only 6% are over age 65, compared to 15% in the rest of Quebec. Fully 91% of residents are of Aboriginal ancestry.
• More than a third (37%) of households in the region contain six or more people, while the majority (74%) have at least four.
• Most Cree residents speak Cree in the home (89%), and an even larger proportion is able to carry on a conversation in Cree (97%). In addition, 88% can converse in English, and 26% in French.
• Education levels have risen substantially since 1991. Nonetheless, 67% of the Cree population still has a high school degree or less, while only 5%* have a university education.
• Wages provi…

Since 2000, cancer has been the main cause of death in Quebec (Institut de la statistique du Québec, 2003). However, the standardized death rate due to cancer, like most other causes of death, has been declining steadily since the early 1990s (ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, 2003; ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, 2004), while life expectancy at birth of the Quebec population has increased in recent decades. With the number of seniors growing steadily and the risk of cancer increasing with age, there is a parallel increase in the incidence of cancer. In addition, as a result of earlier diagnoses and more effective treatments, cancer patients are surviving longer, leading to a high demand for health care as follow‑up for these individuals.

A number of indicators can be used to monitor cancer and measure the burden that it represents for society. The most well‑known ones are the number of new cases reported annually (incidence), mortality, relative…

Premature mortality caused by cancer and the public health challenge it represents have given rise to a myriad of studies on the contribution of material and social living conditions to varying risks of morbidity and mortality. Thus, European and American studies have shown that cancer mortality—and some cancers more than others—often hits disadvantaged socioeconomic groups and regions hardest, and that this relationship persists even when individual behavior is taken into account. Numerous studies have focused mainly on men, who are easier to characterize socioeconomically than women. Indeed, it has proven difficult to determine the socioeconomic position of women, and the indicators used are often inadequate. An examination of the social health inequalities between the sexes shows that the mortality is sensitive to the inequality measure, the causes of mortality differ for men and women, these inequalities are generally less pronounced among women, and the social condition of wome…

For a number of years now, the rural areas of industrialized countries have been going through a major crisis. They are experiencing a massive population exodus, primarily of young people, and are losing a considerable number of jobs, primarily to cities and major metropolitan areas. Some authors even go so far as to talk about the “slow death” of rural communities. Yet in Quebec and the rest of Canada, a significant portion of the population—roughly one in five persons—currently lives in rural communities. Under these circumstances, it seemed legitimate to ask: is living in rural communities rather than cities having an impact on the health and wellness of the rural population?

When we began to examine this question, the first thing we realized was that the knowledge developed thus far about the health and wellness of this population was too sparse and too out of date to provide a clear enough picture of the situation. The purpose of the present study has therefore been to…