“The Health Status of and Access to Healthcare by Registered First Nation Peoples in Manitoba“, a joint study by the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba (FNHSSM) and the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba compares health data collected in 2015-2017 with the results of a study the MCHP published in 2002. “When we look at health status and health-care access, the inequities between First Nation people and all other Manitobans have gotten worse, according to many indicators,” said Leona Star, a Cree woman who is director of research at FNHSSM and co-led the study.

The research project is the first in Canada to compare data from a study designed and implemented by First Nation researchers across Canada – the First Nations Regional Health Survey (2015-16) – with data that reports on the health of a representative sample of all First Nation communities in Manitoba, stored in a repository at MCHP.