A community-based task shifting program in 25 remote indigenous communities in Nunavut, Canada

Abstract

Task shifting can improve access, availability, efficiency, and quality of health services in under resourced settings. Task shifting can occur formally or informally within health professions, between health professions, between support staff and health professions, or between lay community members and health professionals. There are currently thousands of Indigenous peoples in Canada’s high Arctic, living in remote communities, north of the 60th parallel with limited access to basic medical services. In Nunavut, 25 remote fly-in communities exist in some of the most sparsely populated and harshest conditions on earth. Diminished access to or absence of basic health services such as diagnostic imaging and staff resources in remote communities can have a detrimental effect on patient care, and health outcomes. The existence of a community based diagnostic x-ray training program using a task shifting model addresses a gap in quality and access to services and subsequent treatment for community residents in this region.