The Cedar Project: Racism and its impacts on health and wellbeing among young Indigenous people who use drugs in Prince George and Vancouver, BC

Abstract

Racism continues to drive health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. This study focuses on racism experienced by young Indigenous people who have used drugs in British Columbia (BC), and predictors of interpersonal racism. Cedar Project is a community-governed cohort study involving young Indigenous people who use drugs in Vancouver and Prince George, BC. This cross-sectional study included data collected between August 2015-October 2016. The Measure of Indigenous Racism Experiences (MIRE) scale was used to assess experiences of interpersonal racism across 9 unique settings on a 5-point Likert scale, collapsing responses into three categories (none/low/high). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine associations between key variables and interpersonal racism. Among 321 participants, 79% (n = 255) experienced racism in at least one setting. Thirty two percent (n = 102) experienced high interpersonal racism from police, governmental agencies (child ‘welfare’, health personnel), and in public settings. Ever having a child apprehended (AOR:2.76, 95%CI:1.14–6.65), probable post-traumatic stress (AOR:2.64; 95%CI:1.08–6.46), trying to quit substances (AOR:3.69; 95%CI:1.04–13.06), leaving emergency room without receiving treatment (AOR:3.05; 95%CI:1.22–7.64), and having a traditional language spoken at home while growing up (AOR:2.86; 95%CI:1.90–6.90) were associated with high interpersonal racism. Among women, experiencing high interpersonal racism was more likely if they lived in Prince George (AOR:3.94; 95%CI:1.07–14.50), ever had a child apprehended (AOR:5.09; 95%CI:1.50–17.30), and had probable post-traumatic stress (AOR:5.21; 95%CI:1.43–18.95). Addressing racism experienced by Indigenous peoples requires immediate structural systemic, and interpersonal anti-racist reforms.