New Web site promotes sexual and reproductive health

An online resource designed to provide Aboriginal women with sexual health and reproduction information was launched this summer. To access the site go to Aboriginalsexualhealth.ca

“In Canada, Aboriginal women have the highest rates of cervical cancer, STIs and HIV/AIDS, diabetes, including gestational diabetes, among other sexual and reproductive health issues,” explained Alisha Nicole Apale, Aboriginal Health Initiative Coordinator at the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) in Ottawa.

“Aboriginal women are also more likely to experience high-risk pregnancies and complicated or pre-term deliveries,” she continued. “The risk of maternal mortality for Aboriginal women is double that of non-Aboriginal women in Canada. Similarly, the infant mortality rate for Aboriginal babies is more than twice that of the general population,” she said.

The Aboriginal Women’s Sexual Health Web site was launched in June 2011. It was established through a collaborative approach between SOGC and the Aboriginal Health Initiative Committee (AHI), a nation-wide committee of health professionals working in Aboriginal communities.

Information on everything from childbirth, parenting, and relationships to sexuality, sexually transmitted Infections and the importance of annual women’s cancer screenings are found on the Web site, said Apale, adding that even the site’s logo references the need for a holistic approach to Aboriginal health care.

“We chose the circle as our centre image for the Web site because it symbolizes the cycle of life and how everything in life is connected,” Apale said. “The medicine wheel is a First Nation sacred teaching that speaks to the four directions. It is symbolic of harmony, balance and an inclusive place for everyone and we felt it is fitting for the objective of this site,” she said.

Asked why the site was needed, Apale said “What is known is that there are several contributing and overlapping issues at play,” she said. “The social determinants of health provide a great framework through which we can understand the prevalence and disproportionate rate of sexual and reproductive illness within Aboriginal communities. Access to quality and culturally-safe health care is one of the cross-cutting and underlying issues, and removing barriers to care– the things practitioners can do in their individual practices–is a key aspect of our initiative,” she said.

Also, “We aim to address the larger systematic barriers through advocacy and leadership as a society of women’s health professionals.”

“There is a discrimination in the way that Aboriginal people [experience] health care compared to the white population,” said  Dr. Sandra de la Ronde, co-chair of the Aboriginal Health Initiative Committee and obstetrician at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa.

“As a group, Aboriginal people still experience the most overt racism in the arena of health care, which makes them less likely to want to get care,” she added.

Dr. de la Ronde said residential school abuses have also catered to the ignorance many women have concerning necessary annual cancer screenings, such as cervical pap smears and mammograms.

She said the site is a lesson in ‘cultural competent care’ in regard to how Aboriginal woman address their health concerns as well as how mainstream practitioners care for their Indigenous patients.

Asked just who the Web site targets, Apale said their target is distinct.

“First, as part of a professional society of women’s health professionals, we needed to address the needs and interests of the SOGC members and other women’s health care professionals. Second, with advancing Aboriginal women’s health as the main goal of the AHI, our site needed to have information targeted towards the public, namely, First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, their families and communities. Third, at the AHI, our projects, products and advocacy initiatives are undertaken via partnerships with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations,” she explained.

To date, creators of the site say it has been successful.
“We have been monitoring it and so far, we are pleased with the response,” said Apale.

She said the Internet is an ideal way to get women motivated and active in their personal health care.

“We are well aware that increasingly people turn to the Web to get health information and there is deluge of information out there. With the launch of the site our focus is on quality, not quantity,” she said.

“People can expect to find that our focus will remain on presenting high quality information and resources, with a strong emphasis on culturally-safe materials–materials that speak to the specific health needs, interests, beliefs and realities experiences by Aboriginal women,” she added.

Apale said the site can only get better from here on in.
“We will aim to evolve conscientiously, advancing the site in a way that respects diversity, promotes ownership and continually supports the ability of health professionals to provide culturally-safe care.”