Dec. 2011
The Our Health Counts Urban Aboriginal Health Database Project, a first-of-its-kind health database for urban Aboriginal People in Ontario, was created to fill the gaps in Aboriginal health information and to understand the full extent of health issues and challenges experienced by this population.
Researchers collected data for factors that influence a person’s health such as poverty, illness and income for the First Nations population of Hamilton – chosen for its large Aboriginal population and strong infrastructure of Aboriginal community health and social services.
Read the press release
Download the project brief
Download the full report
This is a Well Living House report.
Key findings
- Almost 80 per cent of the First Nations people living in Hamilton earn less than $20,000 per year and 70 per cent live in the poorest neighborhoods compared with 25 per cent of the total Hamilton population.
- This poverty is accompanied by challenges in access to housing and food security. Ninety per cent of First Nations people in Hamilton have moved once in last five years and over 50 per cent moved three or more times in last five years.
- First Nations people in Hamilton live with a disproportionate burden of chronic disease and disability. Rates of diabetes are 15.6 per cent – more than three times – that of the total Hamilton population.
- Compared to the general population, First Nations people living in Hamilton were more than twice as likely to visit an emergency room, 25 times more likely to report living in a crowded condition and had children who were more than twice as likely to have asthma.
