Health inequalities and the social determinants of Aboriginal peoples' health

January 2013

Authors Charlotte Reading, PhD, and Fred Wien, PhD, use available data to describe health inequalities experienced by diverse Aboriginal peoples in Canada, linking social determinants to health inequalities. Many of these determinants, such as poverty, substandard housing, and barriers to education, are rooted in contexts specific to Indigenous peoples, including a history of colonization impacting culture, languages, land rights and self-determination. The authors present a conceptual framework for understanding social determinants across the lifespan, and note that complex interactions between social determinants and health are just starting to be mapped out and demonstrated empirically by researchers.