1 / 6

Lessons from young Aboriginal women in two Canadian cities

Indigenous communities and overrepresentation in child welfare systems, a potential risk factor for HIV/AIDS?. Lessons from young Aboriginal women in two Canadian cities

tiger
Download Presentation

Lessons from young Aboriginal women in two Canadian cities

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Indigenous communities and overrepresentation in child welfare systems, a potential risk factor for HIV/AIDS? Lessons from young Aboriginal women in two Canadian cities Meaghan Thumath, Akm Moniruzzam, Katharina Patterson, Margo Pearce, Martin T. Schechter, Patricia Spittal for the Cedar Project Partnership

  2. Honouring • The research participants who share their stories • The Aboriginal elders who support the study, Violet Bozoki and Earl Henderson • Cedar Project Partners • Violet Bozoki & Earl Henderson, Elders • Prince George Native Friendship Centre • Carrier Sekani Family Services • Q’wemtsin Health Society • Positive Living North • Healing Our Spirit • Splats’in Secwepemc First Nation • Central Interior Native Health • Red Road Aboriginal AIDS Network • Vancouver Native Health • Katharina Patterson

  3. Background: Historical Trauma Community Men Women Elders & Children

  4. Study Design • Observational prospective cohort of Aboriginal young people who use non-cannabis illicit injection and non-injection drugs • Use of non-injection or injection drugs at least one month prior to enrollment and aged between 14 and 30 • Target enrolment: Vancouver 300, Prince George 300 Methods: Secondary Analysis of Pregnant Cohort • Multivariate analysis comparing HIV outcomes in women exposed to child apprehension versus those who hadn’t had a child apprehended

  5. Young Women’s Experiences of Child Removal • 76% of the young women (n262) aged 14-30 reported having ever been pregnant. • 65% of participants were taken from their biological parents and put in care; average age taken from parents: 4 years • 44% reported having at least one child removed by child welfare • Women who reported ever having had a child removed were 2.2 times more likely to have contracted HIV (95% CI: 1.061-4.562), p=0.031).

  6. Conclusions • Aboriginal young women who use drugs are increasingly vulnerable to HIV in Canada • Further research is needed to examine child removal as a potential trauma that may increase HIV risk • Young Aboriginal women who use drugs require improved access to: • Low threshold, culturally relevant reproductive health services • Youth and family-friendly treatment centres • Parenting supports & alternatives to foster care • Harm reduction services • Programming centered on healing from the intergenerational transmission of trauma • Health care providers who treat them with dignity and honour their histories

More Related