Tucked alongside the sting of the frigid James Bay, Moosonee stands as one among Northern Ontario’s most distant and storied communities—a spot also known as the “Gateway to the Arctic.” Whereas cities like Thunder Bay or Wet River echo related titles, Moosonee carries its personal distinctive distinctions.
This remoted city of about 3,000 folks is formed by its subarctic local weather, deep cultural roots, and resilient spirit. Roughly 85 p.c of Moosonee’s inhabitants identifies as Cree, forming a monogamous and close-knit neighborhood that has thrived for generations regardless of restricted entry to year-round infrastructure and well being care providers.
For aged Indigenous people who thrive in connection to their atmosphere, neighborhood paramedicine is a chance to reimagine well being care and make these folks really feel like they honestly belong.
The well being struggles of aged Indigenous people
A lot of the historic limitations and trauma from residential faculties and systemic violence nonetheless have an effect on psychological well-being, particularly among the many aged. Ongoing racism, underfunded care, and an absence of cultural security undermine belief and entry. What we see is an unlimited disconnect between Western well being and the Indigenous folks’s extra holistic practices and non secular connection to the land.
Lots of the Indigenous aged are pressured to go away their residence, to maneuver to extra city cities the place they’re unfamiliar with their environment, merely to get entry to the medical care they want. These folks are typically poorer, have extra expertise with meals insecurity, and face extra power well being issues (comparable to hypertension, arthritis, coronary heart illness, diabetes, and despair) than non-Indigenous seniors.
What does this imply for seniors who’ve refused to maneuver? The close to impossibility of receiving immediate look after power situations, comparable to coronary heart illness. Concerning Moosonee, a ScienceDirect article particulars that some people needed to journey as much as 9 hours for specialised cardiovascular care.
Disparities in elementary human rights have resulted in establishments, like WAHA, being flooded with hundreds of calls from older Indigenous peoples.
Noah Weinberg is an advocate for different response packages.
