Health Disturbances Stemming from Overcrowding and Inadequate Housing among Indigenous Peoples within Canada

Hymie AnismanAmy Bombay^*Kimberly Matheson

• Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

Indigenous Peoples in Canada have experienced cumulative historical trauma and various current stressors continue to undermine health. Living conditions on First Nations reserves and in Inuit regions have been a constant threat to well-being. In this respect, a significant number of houses are in disrepair and ventilation is poor, allowing for the growth of mold and mycotoxins that favor the development of various respiratory illnesses as well as disturbances related to immune dysfunction that increase vulnerability to bacterial and viral infections. This is compounded by overcrowded conditions, which often entail multiple generations residing within a single home. This can take a toll on psychological and physical health, and increases the risk of transmission of illness among occupants of the same household. The distress created, together with unhealthy diets and lack of potable water, can disturb the abundance of certain microbiota within the gut and on the skin, which can independently have diverse health consequences Supporting these contentions, similar poor living conditions also occur frequently among Indigenous Peoples within other countries (e.g., Australia) and the health consequences are equally pronounced. The distress experienced in earlier generations, operating through disruptions of parental caretaking skills or epigenetic changes may have health consequences on ensuing generations, and are exacerbated by exposure to ongoing chronic stressors, including poverty, overcrowding within homes, and inadequate housing conditions. Despite repeated calls to remedy the housing crisis experienced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada, improvements have been slow in materializing and the situation has remained dire.