Employment with the Northwest Territories Aquatics Program: A Significant Life Event?

For over 60 years, the Northwest Territories Aquatics Program (NWTAP) has employed university students from southern Canada with little to no exposure to northern Canada to run seasonal swimming pools and waterfronts in isolated northern communities. In this article, we examine the impact that working for this program had on nine former employees’ lives and whether or not working for the NWTAP could be categorized as a significant life experience. We used thematic analysis of the data from retrospective semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires and identified four themes: (1) employment by the NWTAP enhanced the employees’ self-confidence, independence, and self-efficacy; (2) employees gained knowledge about Indigenous cultures in the Northwest Territories; (3) employees developed enhanced sensitivity to social issues in northern communities; and (4) the experience of working for the NWTAP strongly influenced participants’ career paths. Our analysis indicated that working for the NWTAP was a significant life experience

Promising Practices for Boating Safety Initiatives that Target Indigenous Peoples in New Zealand, Australia, the United States of America, and Canada

Boating-related incidents are responsible for a significant number of the drowning fatalities that occur within Indigenous communities in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, and Canada. The aim of this paper was to identify promising practices for boating safety initiatives that target Indigenous peoples within these countries and evaluate past and ongoing boating safety initiatives delivered to/with Indigenous peoples within these countries to suggest the ways in which they – or programs that follow them - may be more effective. Based upon evidence from previous research, boating safety initiatives that target Indigenous peoples in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, and Canada should employ cultural adaptation strategies, strategies to increase boating safety knowledge and awareness, strategies to increase the accessibility of boating safety equipment, and capacity building strategies. Improvements can be made to past, ongoing, and future boating safety initiatives delivered to/with Indigenous peoples in the four countries studied. These strategies all show promise in improving boating safety initiatives and decreasing boating-related drowning

Pedagogy of the Front Float: Dialogue and Aquatics Programming in Taloyoak, Nunavut

We examine the first author’s experiences with aquatics programming in Nunavut through a Freirian lens, arguing that one can use Paulo Freire’s ideals of dialogue and collaboration to recognize recreation as a mode of social oppression and to offer ways to disrupt this oppression. Though Freire’s work is almost 40 years old, his theoretical contributions have not yet been fully realized within the recent post-colonial context surrounding physical activity, and particularly aquatics programming, in Canada’s North. Using this critical inquiry approach, we suggest that programmers can make aquatics offerings more collaborative and culturally relevant by recognizing the cultural and geographical context of northern communities, dialoguing with community members about aquatics programs, and adapting southern-based programs to the northern context.Nous nous penchons sur les expériences du premier auteur en matière de programmation aquatique au Nunavut en empruntant l’approche de Freire, soutenant ainsi qu’on peut recourir aux idéaux de Paulo Freire en matière de dialogue et de collaboration pour reconnaître les loisirs en tant que mode d’oppression sociale et présenter des moyens d’interrompre cette oppression. Même si l’oeuvre de Freire remonte à près d’une quarantaine d’années, ses contributions théoriques n’ont toujours pas été entièrement réalisées dans le contexte post-colonial récent en matière d’activité physique, et surtout de programmation aquatique dans le Nord canadien. En nous appuyant sur cette approche d’enquête critique, nous soutenons que les responsables de la programmation peuvent faire en sorte que les options du domaine aquatique soient davantage coopératives et pertinentes du point de vue culturel en tenant compte du contexte culturel et géographique des collectivités du Nord, en dialoguant avec les membres de la collectivité au sujet des programmes aquatiques et en adaptant les programmes du sud au contexte du nord

Understanding Fall-Risk Factors for Inuvialuit Elders in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada

Older Indigenous adults in Canada experience disproportionately poorer health outcomes than older non-Indigenous adults. Current fall-prevention literature suggests that older Indigenous adults have higher rates of falls and fall-related injuries; however, no information exists on older Inuit adults’ experience with falls. Using the social determinants of Inuit health (SDoIH) as a conceptual framework, this research sought to understand which of the SDoIH are believed by stakeholders (i.e., local fall prevention programmers [LFPPs] and Inuvialuit Elders) to affect most the likelihood of older Inuvialuit adults’ falls. The findings from the 12 semi-structured interviews and participant observations show that factors related to personal health status and conditions, personal health practices and coping skills, physical environments, social support networks, and access to health services increase older Inuvialuit adults’ likelihood of experiencing a fall. Some determinants, however, decrease their likelihood of experiencing falls (health practices, coping skills, and access to health services), and others, such as culture, were perceived as having little influence on falls. Specific cultural practices were identified as factors that influence the likelihood of older Inuvialuit adults experiencing a fall; however, the overall Inuvialuit culture was not. In light of these findings, we offer recommendations for LFPPs in Inuvik to implement fall-prevention programs that adequately address the SDoIH influencing older Inuvialuit adults’ fall risk and rates.Au Canada, les Autochtones âgés ont un état de santé excessivement moins bon que les non-Autochtones âgés. Selon la documentation actuelle sur la prévention des chutes, les Autochtones âgés ont des taux plus élevés de chutes et de blessures découlant de chutes. Cependant, il n’existe pas d’information au sujet des chutes chez les Inuits âgés. Cette recherche, ayant comme cadre conceptuel les déterminants sociaux de la santé des Inuits (DSSI), a cherché à comprendre les DSSI (comme les programmeurs locaux de prévention des chutes et les aînés inuvialuits) qui, selon les parties prenantes, sont les plus susceptibles d’avoir une incidence sur les chutes d’Inuvialuits âgés. D’après les constatations émanant des12 entretiens semi-structurés et les observations des participants, les facteurs liés à l’état de santé et aux conditions personnelles, les pratiques personnelles en matière de santé, la capacité d’adaptation, le milieu physique, les réseaux de soutien social et l’accès aux services de santé ont une incidence sur les possibilités de chutes chez les Inuvialuits âgés. Cependant, certains déterminants diminuent leurs possibilités de chutes (les pratiques personnelles en matière de santé, la capacité d’adaptation et l’accès aux services de santé), tandis que d’autres facteurs, comme la culture, ont peu d’influence apparente sur les chutes. Certaines pratiques culturelles constituent des facteurs qui influencent les possibilités de chutes chez les Inuvialuits âgés, mais dans son ensemble, la culture inuvialuite n’est pas un facteur. À la lumière de ces constatations, nous présentons des recommandations aux programmeurs locaux de prévention des chutes d’Inuvik en vue de la mise en oeuvre de programmes de prévention des chutes qui auraient une incidence réelle sur les DSSI influençant les risques et les taux de chutes chez les Inuvialuits âgés

Risk Factors for Boating Incidents in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada

Injury prevention programs that focus on boating and water safety in the Northwest Territories (NWT) have existed for decades; however, rates of boating incidents are much higher in the NWT than southern Canada. To better understand this health disparity, we engaged in community-based participatory research informed by postcolonial feminist theory to examine Aboriginal men’s understandings of the risk factors that contribute to boating incidents in Inuvik, NWT. Participants identified four main risk factors for boating incidents in Inuvik: 1) Gender, 2) age, 3) place, and 4) lack of boating safety education. As a result of these findings and the ways in which they are strongly related to culture, we argue that local community-based approaches should be employed to design and implement boating safety strategies in communities in the NWT

Physical Activity Policy for Older Adults in the Northwest Territories, Canada: Gaps and Opportunities for Gains

In the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, the population of older adults is increasing, and this population reports much poorer health than other age cohorts. Given the number of benefits that physical activity (PA) can have for older adults, we analyzed policies concerning older adults and PA of both the NWT government and non-governmental organizations in the health, recreation, and sports sectors. Our findings indicate that although the majority of the organizations had no PA policies specific to older adults or Aboriginal older adults, some organizations completed all five stages of the policy cycle (agenda setting, policy formulation, decision making, implementation, and evaluation). Our analysis suggests that PA for older adults is not on the agenda for many organizations in the NWT and that often the policy process does not continue past the decision-making stage. To address the need for connections between all stages of the policy cycle, we suggest that organizations collaborate across multiple sectors and with older adults to develop a territory-wide, age-friendly rural and remote community strategy that is applicable to the NWT. Prioritizing age-friendly communities would, in turn, facilitate appropriate PA opportunities for older adults in the NWT and thus contribute to a healthier aging population.Dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest (T.N.-O.), au Canada, la population de personnes âgées augmente, et la santé de ce segment de population est bien inférieure à celle des autres segments. Étant donné les bienfaits que peut comporter l’activité physique (AP) chez les personnes âgées, nous avons analysé les politiques concernant les personnes âgées et l’AP au sein des organismes gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux des Territoires du Nord-Ouest en matière de santé, de loisirs et de sports. Nos constatations indiquent que même si la majorité des organismes n’étaient pas dotés de politiques d’AP visant particulièrement les personnes âgées ou les Autochtones âgés, certains organismes avaient déjà fait les cinq étapes du cycle stratégique (détermination de l’ordre du jour, formulation de politiques, prise de décisions, mise en oeuvre et évaluation). Notre analyse suggère que pour bien des organismes des T.N.-O., l’AP chez les personnes âgées ne figure pas au programme et que souvent, le processus d’élaboration de politiques ne se poursuit pas après l’étape de la prise de décisions. Afin de relier toutes les étapes du cycle, nous suggérons que les organismes des divers secteurs collaborent entre eux ainsi qu’avec les personnes âgées afin de parvenir à une stratégie qui correspond bien aux gens plus âgés des localités rurales et éloignées, à l’échelle des T.N.-O. En accordant une priorité à la création de collectivités qui tiennent compte des personnes âgées, on pourrait aboutir à des activités physiques convenant aux personnes âgées des T.N.-O., ce qui contribuerait à une population vieillissante en meilleure santé

Biopedagogies and Indigenous knowledge: examining sport for development and peace for urban Indigenous young women in Canada and Australia

This paper uses transnational postcolonial feminist participatory action research (TPFPAR) to examine two sport for development and peace (SDP) initiatives that focus on Indigenous young women residing in urban areas, one in Vancouver, Canada, and one in Perth, Australia. We examine how SDP programs that target urban Indigenous young women and girls reproduce the hegemony of neoliberalism by deploying biopedagogies of neoliberalism to \u27teach\u27 Indigenous young women certain education and employment skills that are deemed necessary to participate in competitive capitalism. We found that activities in both programs were designed to equip the Indigenous girls and young women with individual attributes that would enhance their chances of future success in arenas valued by neoliberal capitalism: Eurocentric employment, post-secondary education and healthy active living. These forms of \u27success\u27 fall within neoliberal logic, where the focus is on the individual being able to provide for oneself. However, the girls and young women we interviewed argued that their participation in the SDP programs would help them change racist and sexist stereotypes about their communities and thereby challenged negative stereotypes. Thus, it is possible that these programs, despite their predominant use of neoliberal logic and biopedagogies, may help to prepare the participants to more successfully negotiate Eurocentric institutions, and through this assist them participants in contributing to social change. Nevertheless, based on our findings, we argue that SDP programs led by Indigenous peoples that are fundamentally shaped by Indigenous voices, epistemologies, concerns and standpoints would provide better opportunities to shake SDP\u27s current biopedagogical foundation. We conclude by suggesting that a more radical approach to SDP, one that fosters Indigenous self-determination and attempts to disrupt dominant relations of power, could have difficulty in attracting the sort of corporate donors who currently play such important roles in the current SDP landscape

Enhancing the Relevance and Effectiveness of Water Safety Education for Ethnic and Racial Minorities

In this paper we explore the ways in which culturally based beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours influence participation in and the development and delivery of water safety education programs. We examine existing data pertaining to ethnic and racial minorities’ drowning rates and argue that these groups’ high rates of drowning are related to a failure to understand and account for non-Eurocentric beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, and issues of social exclusion. We then summarize health communication strategies and provide real-life examples of these strategies at work in water safety education. Finally, we identify four overarching promising practices to enhance the relevance and effectiveness of water education programs targeted at ethnic and cultural minorities. In short, we argue that literature pertaining to cultural aspects of water safety needs to be translated into evidence-based approaches that fundamentally change the ways in which water safety education programs are designed and delivered

Kids Don’t Float…and Their Parents Don’t Either: Using a Family-Centered Approach in Alaska’s Kids Don’t Float Program

The goal of this experiential report is to outline the adoption of a family-centered Kids Don’t Float approach. We conducted a critical synthesis of information to reflect the expansion of the Kids Don’t Float program into a more family-centered approach. The critical synthesis provided insights into why we should adopt this approach, how it was implemented, and how it influenced drowning incidents compared to the previously used child-centered approach. The adoption of a family-centered approach may contribute to reducing drowning incidents by targeting parents, providing safety information to families, and promoting parental modelling of life jackets. Program evaluators and water safety advocates may use these insights to strengthen injury prevention programs that target drowning incidents