Frequently Asked Questions
General
What does Qanuippitaa? mean?
Qanuippitaa? means “How are we?” in Inuktitut. The name and spelling were chosen for the first ever Inuit health survey that was conducted in Nunavik in 2004. It was also subsequently chosen by ITK when it launched the national survey in 2019.
What is the Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey (QNIHS) in Nunavut?
The QNIHS is a survey by and for Inuit and is the only Inuit-led health survey to date that includes Inuit of all ages from all communities across Canada’s four Inuit regions. The QNIHS is to help improve the health and social well-being of Inuit in Canada by influencing Inuit health and social development policies and programs through the collection of high-quality data that is statistically sound and relevant to Nunavut and Inuit.
Who is leading the Nunavut survey?
The Nunavut component of the Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey (QNIHS) is a collaborative effort between Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) and the Government of Nunavut (GN). This branch of the survey is being led by the Nunavut Inuit Health Survey Steering Committee that includes representatives from NTI and GN’s Department of Health.
An Inuit Health Survey Advisory Committee, which includes various representatives at the community, regional, and territorial level, provide important guidance to the Nunavut Qanuippitaa? Steering Committee to develop and implement the survey. These committees ensure that all the decisions for the survey are owned by and in the best interest of Nunavut Inuit.
The Nunavut Qanuippitaa? Steering Committee ensures that the survey will cover all the health topics that are important to Inuit in Nunavut, in a way that respects Inuit culture and values.
The Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey Working Group (NIHSWG) fits into a broader structure of Inuit Governance. The NIHSWG is a sub-committee of the National Inuit Committee on Health (NICoH) under Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK). NICoH provides technical guidance and recommendations related to national Inuit health care review, reform, and policy development to the ITK Board of Directors.
For more information visit Governance and Team.
How is this survey different from others?
Inuit are asked to take part in many surveys. Some are carried out by the federal government, universities, and others. Most surveys are not developed by Inuit. The questions asked are not always relevant to Inuit and do not focus on our priorities. The QNIHS questions will reflect the feedback received from discussions with Inuit on our health priorities.
All of the information will be controlled by Inuit. In addition, one of the goals of the survey is to provide training and resources to help develop the skills required by Inuit to conduct our own surveys on a regular, ongoing basis. This helps ensure that Inuit have greater control over research and that survey and research-related expertise, and jobs stay in Inuit communities.
Participation
What if I decide to withdraw my consent?
Your data will be kept for 25 years, if you chose to withdraw your consent to use your data it will be removed from the servers, but will still exist in any previously printed materials.
To request to withdraw your data please contact us at info@qnihs.ca
How are Inuit chosen to take part in the survey?
In each community, a select number of Inuit of different ages will be asked to take part in the Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey (QNIHS). Inuit will be chosen randomly from the NTI Inuit Enrolment List broken down by communities.
For the survey results to accurately represent Inuit in the region, only those randomly chosen can participate. Participation is not open to anyone.
While participation in the survey is entirely voluntary, by participating, when selected, you help to tell meaningful Inuit stories of our health and wellbeing and that means future programs and policies impacting Inuit will more accurately reflect Inuit needs and priorities.
The QNIHS will take place in Nunavut every five years. This means that while you may not be eligible for participation in the current 2024 survey, you may be selected to participate in future years.
Why should I participate?
Participation in the survey is part of shaping the future of your community. The information you share during a one-on-one interview will become part of high-quality and secure data that will then be used to help make better decisions for Inuit and our communities.
The survey is voluntary, but it’s very important that those randomly selected to take part in the survey do so to ensure the information from the survey will be as accurate as possible. Without accurate information that clearly reflects the true health of Inuit and our communities, it is much harder to develop and implement programs and policies aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Inuit.
The information gathered from every person asked to take part is important to providing a clear picture of all Inuit.
What are my rights as a participant?
To protect your rights and privacy, QNIHS Fieldworkers will first obtain free and informed consent from you and every participant. What does this mean for you?
- You will be fully informed of the purpose of the research, including risks and potential benefits, as well as the confidential nature of the survey before it begins.
- If you are a minor, consent is obtained through your parent or guardian. If you are a youth, aged 12 and older, you will also be asked for your assent – and you may refuse to participate even if your parent or guardian consented. Because people under the age of 16 years are not legally able to give consent, we ask for what is called “assent.” It means an agreement of someone who is not able to give legal consent to participate in an activity.
- You have the right to skip a question if you do not want to answer it. You can also stop the survey and cancel your consent or assent at any time.
- If you choose to not participate or withdrawal consent from the survey this will not influence or have an impact on the services, you receive from NTI nor will it effect any future participation in other NTI programs or events.
Information about specific individuals will not be released or identifiable. The QNIHS Nunavut Team has a strong code of ethics to protect individual and collective information.
What will the information be used for?
Information collected will be used for many purposes including planning, informing policy decisions, improving programs, and developing new ones where required. Subsequent cycles of the QNIHS will take place every five years, allowing Inuit Regions, and the people who shape programs, policies, and decisions, to see how Inuit health is evolving over time and where resources need to be invested.
How will youth involvement be managed?
If children under the age of 12 are selected for the child survey, the child’s parent or legal guardian must participate on behalf of the child.
For youth participants ages 12 to 15, a parent or legal guardian must provide informed consent for their participation. Additionally, the youth’s parent or legal guardian can choose whether they want to accompany their child during the survey. Youth ages 16 and over can provide informed consent and participate in the survey without a parent or caregiver present.
How will I know whether I have been selected?
Participants will be randomly selected from NTI’s Inuit Enrolment List. If you are selected, you may be contacted by email, phone or by someone who may come to you at your home. At that time, the person contacting you will let you know you have been selected, let you know a little more about participating in the survey, ask you if you are willing to participate and give you options for when and where you will be able to take the survey.
What kind of questions will be asked?
Key health priorities have been identified by Inuit. These priorities are being used to determine which questions should be asked.
Questions will focus on many topics including food and nutrition, mental wellness, substance use, and culture and identity, among others. Inuit stated that they also wanted some questions asked that will shine the light on the strengths of Inuit and our communities. While data on the health challenges facing Inuit is important to have, some strengths-based questions are required to tell a more balanced story that also reflects the positive things happening among our people and in our communities.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) has also added our own regional specific questions to the survey. There will be 30 questions specific to Nunavut. In total, there are 230 questions for adults and 174 questions for youth.
Where will the survey take place?
The survey will be taking place in all 25 communities across Nunavut in local venues such as community halls, hamlet offices, or other locations. Prior to the start of the survey in each community, there will be a community event in which all community members will be welcome to join.
See more information about community events.
Survey
What role will Inuit and our communities play in the survey?
Because the QNIHS Nunavut is designed, conducted and owned by Inuit, Inuit will lead all aspects of the survey. Nunavut has a steering committee in place to ensure Inuit engagement and participation during the entire survey process. For example: Inuit are engaged and will continue to be engaged to identify our health data and research priorities; local leaders such as mayors will be engaged to collaborate and promote the survey; local people will be hired to act as interviewers, interpreters and logistics experts; and Inuit will be trained to analyze and disseminate the information.
See more information about the Nunavut Steering Committee.
What role will outside experts play?
Inuit are dedicated to changing the way our data is collected, controlled and shared. The QNIHS Nunavut is designed, owned and led by Inuit. Partnerships with those who respect and support processes that are controlled and led by Inuit will be sought to ensure that the goal of delivering high-quality data is met. One of the goals of the health survey is to build the capacity and skills required for Inuit to control all facets of survey-taking and research on a long-term, ongoing basis. Meaningful partnerships will help build this capacity through the development of training, information sharing and knowledge exchanges.
How will the survey address the specific priorities of Nunavut?
Because Qanuippitaa? is a national Inuit health survey by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), there will be 30 Nunavut-specific questions in the survey, alongside the core questions that will be asked in every QNIHS across Inuit Nunangat. These Nunavut-specific questions will ensure that every Inuit Region has the evidence they need to address challenges and issues that are unique to their location.
Privacy and Data Collection
How will my privacy be protected?
The QNIHS takes the privacy and confidentiality of participants very seriously. Contact information, such as names and addresses, are stored separately from completed surveys. This means that no one will ever see a participant’s name and their answers together. All members of the QNIHS team, who have access to survey responses, have signed a Confidentiality Agreement, which protects the privacy of responses. Information provided by participants will be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes. This means that the survey responses will be grouped together with many other responses and will be presented and reported in overall statistics. One example of a statistic is, “the percentage of Inuit reporting excellent or very good health.”
It’s important to note that Regional Inuit Associations and the Government of Nunavut may have access to community-level data solely for programming purposes. Although unlikely, this access, combined with other demographic information, could potentially provide these organizations with enough quasi-identifiers to reidentify participants.
Who will collect and store the data?
The QNIHS is committed to substantial investments within Inuit regions to conduct the survey and to own, manage, analyze, share and use the data. Inuit organizations are designing and delivering the survey, analyzing and sharing the data collected, and will be using the results to make policy and program changes that seek to improve the health and wellbeing of Inuit.
Where will the survey information be stored?
Survey data will be stored on secure servers controlled by NTI. Survey data will also be combined with data from the other Inuit regions to create a national-level data set. The national data set will be stored on a secure server controlled by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. All data will reside within Canada.
