Examining structural factors influencing cancer care experienced by Inuit in Canada: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

Inuit face worse cancer survival rates and outcomes than the general Canadian population. Persistent health disparities cannot be understood without examining the structural factors that create inequities and continue to impact the health and well-being of Inuit. This scoping review aims to synthesise the available published and grey literature on the structural factors that influence cancer care experienced by Inuit in Canada. Guided by Inuit input from Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada as well as the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology, a comprehensive electronic search along with hand-searching of grey literature and relevant journals was conducted. A total of 30 papers were included for analysis and assessment of relevance. Findings were organised into five categories as defined in the a priori framework related to colonisation, as well as health systems, social, economic, and political structures. The study results highlight interconnections between racism and colonialism, the lack of health service information on urban Inuit, as well as the need for system-wide efforts to address the structural barriers in cancer care.

KEYWORDS:

• Inuit
• health and wellness
• cancer
• cancer care
• health care
• structural factors
• Canada

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our gratitude to Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and acknowledge the contributions of the Health Programs team who supported this study. We also thank Inuit community members who provided input on this paper at the Inuit research symposium. We would also like to thank Lindsey Sikora, University of Ottawa Research Librarian (Health Sciences and Medicine), for her guidance and support in conducting the literature search, as well as the contributions of Catherine Larocque as the secondary reviewer in data screening and extraction.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) report no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this manuscript.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2253604.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this manuscript.