Inuit face high risks for diseases such as cancer and TB, and it is difficult to access healthcare from Nunavut. Inuit have a culture that guides them in their everyday life with close ties to family, community and the land, and with strong self-direction. Shared decision making engages people with their healthcare providers to make health decisions, and is important for person-centred care. An Inuit shared decision making toolkit, "Not deciding alone", has been developed by and with urban-based Inuit peer support workers and consists of training and tools to enhance Inuit participation in health decisions with healthcare providers. The aim of our study is to field test the Inuit shared decision making toolkit.
This project has been designed and will be conducted by a Steering committee of healthcare providers, researchers, decision makers, and Inuit community members. First, Inuit who travel to receive healthcare outside of Nunavut will be interviewed about their experiences and how these experiences affect their opportunities to participate in making healthcare decisions. This information will be used to guide a field test of the Inuit shared decision making toolkit in Nunavut. All Baffin region community health workers will be invited to attend a meeting in one community, and trained to use the Inuit shared decision making toolkit. For 6 months after the meeting community health workers will have distance support to use the Inuit shared decision making toolkit in their communities with Inuit who will travel for healthcare. Then, community health workers will be invited for another meeting about how the Inuit shared decision making toolkit worked. Inuit who are from the Baffin region and who travel to Ottawa for healthcare will be asked about their experience with shared decision making and whether it helps them to participate with healthcare providers. The results will build information on how to make shared decision making available to everyone in Nunavut.