Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T01:17:22.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Changing Well-Being of Older Adult Registered Indians: An Analysis Using the Registered Indian Human Development Index

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Martin Cooke ,
Eric Guimond  and
Jennifer McWhirter
Martin Cooke*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Waterloo Population Health Research Group, University of Waterloo
Eric Guimond
Affiliation:
Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Jennifer McWhirter
Affiliation:
Population Health Research Group, University of Waterloo
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to:/Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Martin Cooke, Ph.D., Department of Sociology/Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, (cooke@uwaterloo.ca)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The demographic aging of the Registered Indian population suggests that the social, economic, and health conditions of older Registered Indians will be increasingly important for communities and policymakers. We have adapted the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index using data from the Census of Canada and the Indian Register to measure whether improvements seen in the knowledge, standard of living, and health of the Registered Indian population between 1981 and 2001 are also observed among Registered Indians of older ages. The absolute levels of well-being of older Registered Indians were found to have improved, but gaps with other older Canadians had widened, particularly in terms of income and male life expectancy.

Résumé

Le vieillissement de la population des Indiens inscrits laisse croire que les conditions socioéconomiques et l'état de santé des aînés revêtiront une importance de plus en plus grande pour les collectivités et les responsables de l'élaboration des politiques. Nous avons adapté l'indice du développement humain du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement à l'aide des données provenant du Recensement du Canada et du Registre des Indiens afin de voir si les améliorations observées au niveau des connaissances, du niveau de vie et de la santé de la population des Indiens inscrits entre 1981 et 2001 sont également observées au sein de la population des Indiens inscrits plus âgés. Nous constatons que les niveaux absolus de bien-être des Indiens inscrits plus âgés se sont améliorés, mais que les écarts avec les autres aînés canadiens se sont accentués, notamment en ce qui a trait au revenu et à l'espérance de vie des hommes.

Keywords

vieillissementautochtoneCanadasantérevenuéducationagingAboriginalCanadahealthincomeeducation
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2008 , pp. 385 - 397
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, K. (2004). Urban aboriginal women in British Columbia and the impacts of the matrimonial real property regime. In Beavon, D., & White, J.P. (Eds.), Aboriginal policy research: Selected proceedings of the 2002 Aboriginal policy research conference. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishers.Google Scholar
Beavon, D., Cooke, M. (2003). An application of the United Nations human development index to Registered Indians in Canada 1996. In White, J.P., Maxim, P.S., & Beavon, D.J.K. (Eds.), Aboriginal conditions: research as foundation for public policy (pp. 201–221). Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Bienvenue, R., & Havens, B. (1986). Structural inequalities, informal networks: a comparison of Native and non-Native elderly. Canadian Journal on Aging, 5, 241–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blandford, A., & Chappell, N. (1990). Subjective well-being among Native and non-Native elderly persons: Do differences exist? Canadian Journal on Aging, 9(4), 386–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clatworthy, S.J. (2003). Impacts of the 1985 Amendments to the Indian Act in First Nations populations. In White, J.P., Maxim, P.S., & Beavon, D. (Eds.), Aboriginal Conditions (pp. 63–90). Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Coale, A., & Demeny, P. (1965). Regional model life tables and stable populations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Coale, A., & Guo, G. (1989). Revised regional model life tables at very low levels of mortality. Population Index, 55(4), 613–643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooke, M. (2007). The Registered Indian human development indices: Methodological and conceptual issues. In White, J., Spence, N., & Beavon, D. (Eds.), Aboriginal well-being: Canada's continuing challenge (pp. 25–50). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.Google Scholar
Cooke, M., Beavon, D., McHardy, M. (2004). Measuring the well-being of Aboriginal People: An application of the United Nations human development index to Registered Indians in Canada, 1981–2001.. In White, J.P., Maxim, P., & Beavon, D. (Eds.), Aboriginal policy research: setting the agenda for change (Vol. 1 pp. 47–70). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Elder, G.H. , Jr. (1994). Time, human agency, and social change: Perspectives on the life course. Social Psychological Quarterly, 57(1), 4–15.Google Scholar
Goins, R.T., & Manson, S.M. (2006). Introduction to a supplemental issue of the Journal of Applied Gerontology: Research on American Indian and Alaska Native aging. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 25(1, Suppl. 1), 5S–8S.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goins, R.T., Spencer, S.M., Roubideaux, Y.D., & Manson, S.M. (2005). Differences in functional disability of rural American Indian and white older adults with comorbid diabetes. Research on Aging, 27(6), 643–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guimond, E., Kerr, D., & Beaujot, R. (2004). Charting the growth of Canadian Aboriginal populations: Problems, options and implications. Canadian Studies in Population, 31(1), 33–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gyimah, S.O., White, J., & Maxim, P. (2004). Income and First Nations elderly: Policies for a better future. In.. Aboriginal policy research: Setting the agenda for change. (Vol. 1, pp. 71–83). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.Google Scholar
Hull, J. (2005). Aboriginal post-secondary education and labour market outcomes in Canada, 2001. Ottawa: Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.Google Scholar
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) (2008). Aboriginal demography: Population, household and family projections, 2001–2026. Ottawa: Author/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Retrieved 28 Nov. 2008 from http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/ra/abd-eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Labillois, M., Frideres, J., & Mussell, B. (1994). Aboriginal seniors' issues. Ottawa: National Advisory Council on Aging.Google Scholar
Latulippe-Sakamoto, C. (1971). Estimation de la mortalité des Indiens du Canada, 1900–1968. Ottawa: Université d'Ottawa.Google Scholar
Loh, S., Verma, R., Ng, E., Norris, M.J., George, M.V., & Perreault, J. (1998). Population projections of Registered Indians, 1996–2021. Report prepared by Population Projections Section, Demography Division, Statistics Canada for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.Google Scholar
Marshall, V.W., Mueller, M.M. (2003). Theoretical roots of the life-course perspective. In Heinz, W.R., & Marshall, V.W. (Eds.), Social dynamics of the life course: Transitions, institutions, and interrelations (pp. 3–32). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Myles, J. (2000). The maturation of Canada's retirement income system: Income levels, income inequality, and low-income among the elderly. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
O'Sullivan, E. (2006). The community well-being (CWB) index: Well-being in First Nations communities, 1981–2001 and into the future. Ottawa: Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Strategic Analysis Directorate.Google Scholar
Piché, V., & George, M.V. (1973). Estimates of vital rates for the Canadian Indians, 1960–1970. Demography, 10(3), 367–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Romaniuk, A. (1981). Increase in natural fertility during the early stages of modernization: Canadian Indians case study. Demography, 18(2), 157–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistics Canada (1984). Life tables, Canada and provinces 1980–82. (Cat. no. 84-532). Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (1988). Life expectancy: Abridged life tables, at birth and age 65, by sex, for Canada, provinces, territories, and health regions. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (1990). Life tables, Canada and provinces 1985–87. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (1995). Life tables, Canada and provinces, 1990–92. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2006). Life tables, Canada, provinces, and territories 2000 to 2002. Ottawa: Statistics Canada: Health Statistics Division.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2007). Portrait of seniors in Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
UNDP (1990). Human development report 1990. New York: United Nations Development Program/Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
UNDP (2003). Human development report 2003. New York: United Nations Development Program/Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Verma, R., Michalowski, M., & Gauvin, R.P. (2003, May). Abridged life tables for Registered Indians in Canada, 1976–80 to 1996–2000. Minneapolis, MN: Paper presented at the Population Association of America.Google Scholar
Weibel-Orlando, J. (1989). Elders and elderlies: Well-being in Indian old age. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 13(3–4), 149–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, T.K., Elias, B., Reading, J., O'Neil, J.D., Leader, A., & McDonald, G. (1998). Chronic diseases: Literature review and analysis of the First Nations and Inuit regional health survey national core data. Winnipeg: Centre for Aboriginal Health Research, University of Manitoba Department of Community Medicine.Google Scholar