Rural Remote Health
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Rural Remote Health · Oct 2013
Assessing the effectiveness and feasibility of implementing mitigation measures for an influenza pandemic in remote and isolated First Nations communities: a qualitative community-based participatory research approach.
The next influenza pandemic is predicted to disproportionately impact marginalized populations, such as those living in geographically remote Aboriginal communities, and there remains a paucity of scientific literature regarding effective and feasible community mitigation strategies. In Canada, current pandemic plans may not have been developed with adequate First Nations consultation and recommended measures may not be effective in remote and isolated First Nations communities. ⋯ This study highlights the importance of engaging local key informants in pandemic planning in order to gain valuable community-specific insight regarding the design and implementation of more effective and feasible mitigation strategies. As it is ethically important to address the needs of marginalized populations, it is recommended that these findings be incorporated in future pandemic plans to improve the response capacity and health outcomes of remote and isolated First Nations communities during the next public health emergency.