Janet Smylie|Michelle Firestone
Back to the basics: Identifying and addressing underlying challenges in achieving high quality and relevant health statistics for Indigenous populations in Canada
St. Michael's Hospital|Public Health Ontario|University of Toronto|Centre for Global Health Research|St. Michael's Hospital
canada known internationally excellence quality public policy relevance health social statisticsthere double standard however respect relevance quality statistics indigenous populations canadaindigenous specific health social statistics gathering informed unique ethical rightsbased policy practice imperatives regarding need indigenous participation leadership indigenous data processes throughout spectrum indicator development data collection management analysis usewe demonstrate current indigenous data quality challenges including misclassification errors nonresponse bias systematically contribute significant underestimate inequities health determinants health status health care access indigenous nonindigenous people canadathe major quality challenge underlying errors biases lack indigenous specific identifiers consistent relevant major health social data sourcesthe recent removal indigenous identity question canadian census resulted deterioration already suboptimal systema revision core health data sources include relevant consistent inclusive indigenous selfidentification urgently requiredthese changes need carried partnership indigenous peoples representative governing organizations