| Inuit health and the environment are intimately connected, but gaps in our knowledge of how the environment acts as a complex determinant and place of health remain. Addressing these gaps is urgent as environmental change is already influencing environment-health interactions. This thesis uses a collaborative case study in the community of Nain, Nunatsiavut to explore the relationship between sea ice and health. Focus groups, search and rescue document review, interviews, and participant observation were conducted between July 2010 and May 2011. Results demonstrate ways that the environment acts as a determinant of physical (injury/trauma) and mental/social/cultural health; intersections between environment and other determinants of health; role of place-meanings and environmental risk perspectives in shaping exposures and risk management strategies; and the influence of current environmental changes on health. These results deepen our understanding of the relationship between environment, place, risk, and health in an Indigenous context.;Keywords: Inuit, Indigenous, environmental health, wellbeing, injury, mental health, culture, place, risk perception, risk management, climate change, sea ice, Labrador, Arctic. |
