Overcrowding and sense of home in the Canadian Arctic

Perreault, Karine; Riva, Mylène; Dufresne, Philippe J.; Fletcher, Christopher

doi:10.1080/02673037.2019.1602720

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The active implication of Inuit organizations in housing research is crucial to ensure that objectives are tailored to Inuit-specific housing needs and to optimize knowledge translation strategies [ 13 ]. The project Housing, health and well-being in Nunavut and Nunavik , in which this study is nested, was developed in collaboration with Nunavut and Nunavik-based organizations concerned with the provision and management of affordable housing, the deployment of public health and social services, and the promotion of Inuit rights and interests (see Acknowledgements) [ 45 ]. Partner organizations contributed to developing the objectives and the design of the study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In two cross-sectional studies conducted in Inuit regions, overcrowding has been associated with increased stress [ 43 ] and poor psychosocial health outcomes [ 44 ], particularly among women. Baseline data from a rehousing intervention conducted in Nunavut and Nunavik between 2014 and 2017 showed that household overcrowding was associated with a lower sense of home among Inuit adults [ 45 ]. The sense of home scale used in this study echoes the notion of “ontological security from the home” in that it assessed people’s perceptions of their home in relation to constructs such as control, privacy, relationships, identity, and safety [ 45 ].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Baseline data from a rehousing intervention conducted in Nunavut and Nunavik between 2014 and 2017 showed that household overcrowding was associated with a lower sense of home among Inuit adults [ 45 ]. The sense of home scale used in this study echoes the notion of “ontological security from the home” in that it assessed people’s perceptions of their home in relation to constructs such as control, privacy, relationships, identity, and safety [ 45 ]. Pre- and post-rehousing data of the same intervention research indicated that the reduction in the number of adults per household, and more specifically a transition to nuclear family arrangements (two adults or less with children), were significant predictors of psychological distress reduction [ 46 ].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

Perreault

Lapalme

Potvin

et al. 2022

IJERPH

Self Cite

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This study explores the ways in which a rehousing intervention shapes the mental well-being of Inuit adults living in Nunavut, Canada, where the prevalence of core housing need is four times the national average. More specifically, it compares the housing experiences of participants who were rehoused in a newly built public housing unit, to the experiences of participants on the public housing waitlist. The study was developed in collaboration with organizations based in Nunavut and Nunavik. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed, and a deductive-inductive thematic analysis was performed based on Gidden’s concept of ontological security, and Inuit-specific mental health conceptualization. Twenty-five Inuit adults participated (11 rehoused, 14 waitlist). Three themes were identified to describe how the subjective housing experiences of participants improved their mental well-being after rehousing: (1) refuge creation; (2) self-determination and increased control; (3) improved family dynamics and identity repair. Implicit to these themes are the contrasting housing experiences of participants on the waitlist. Construction initiatives that increase public housing stock and address gaps in the housing continuum across Inuit regions could promote well-being at a population level. However, larger socio-economic problems facing Inuit may hamper beneficial processes stemming from such interventions.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

Perreault

Lapalme

Potvin

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…In that research, household density is typically measured as 'persons per room' and overcrowding defined against some benchmark on that measure, or using the CNOS (Lauster and Tester 2010;Riva, Plusquellec, Robert-Paul, Laouan-Sidi et al 2014;Pepin 2018). Like Indigenous Australians, Inuit populations experience markedly higher rates of overcrowding relative to their respective general populations on such comparative measures (Lauster and Tester 2010;Riva, Plusquellec et al 2014;Perreault, Riva et al 2020). Lauster and Tester (2010: 524) highlight the arbitrariness of those measures, noting that the 'person per room' standard for overcrowding in the US has been revised downwards over time in response to a general decline in household density, rather than in reference to any empirical evidence on the impacts of household density.…”

Section: Occupant Density and Crowding: Empirical Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2010: 525). Lauster and Tester (2010) suggest qualitative indicators of overcrowding are needed to counter cultural 'ignorance' of objective density measures (see also Perreault, Riva et al 2020).…”

Section: Occupant Density and Crowding: Empirical Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

How many in a crowd? Assessing overcrowding measures in Australian housing

Dockery¹,

Moskos²,

Isherwood³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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This study assess the measurement of crowding in Australia and explores the relationships between various household density measures and the wellbeing of occupants. Indicators of the incidence or severity of household crowding in Australia actually measure occupant density—the ratio of occupants to available space—rather than crowding, which relates to a psychological response to the sense of excessive density. How overcrowding is defined and measured has important implications for funding requirements, the appropriate mix of housing stock given household structures and rules for allocating families to public and community housing.There is a complex relationship between occupant density and wellbeing within and across households. Any measure based only on readily observable metrics of household composition and the number of bedrooms is unlikely to accurately discriminate between households that are overcrowded—in that occupants are suffering significant adverse effects from excessive density—from households that are not overcrowded. While such measures may have some descriptive value, they will not adequately meet informational needs for many policy and practice purposes, including the targeting of assistance.The experiences of people from CALD and Indigenous backgrounds living in overcrowded households were explored in qualitative interviews. The interviews revealed substantial negative effects, including lack of privacy, excessive noise, antisocial behaviour, child safety and wellbeing concerns, increased housework, food theft, and family and financial strain. Service providers are also impacted by having to manage additional repairs and maintenance, provision of intensive tenancy support and the need to reallocate tenants. Some positive effects were noted, including caring for family members, strengthened family ties, promotion of cultural identity, companionship and financial benefits. The realisation of benefits generally relies on the household being well-functioning.

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Promoting Societal Resilience to Cascading Risk and Concurrencies

Pescaroli

Guida

Kelman

2021

The Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies

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Climate change is not just about modelling and understanding hazards or weather. Societal resilience has to consider wider systemic dynamics and to explore how risks interact for going beyond the existing approaches to adaptation. It is a matter of understanding the root causes of problems, promoting strategic efforts that could be efficient and feasible. This chapter offers a reference point for scholars and practitioners who are approaching the management of complex systems and are willing to explore the implications for business as usual. At the same time, it builds evidence to support experienced readers in going beyond silo thinking and conventional wisdom. Examples and theories are used together to propose that climate resilient societies need shifting toward the understanding of common points of failures between different threats, and promoting effective multi-sectoral partnerships. The sections are developed to progress in complementary steps. Are there any lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that could be applied for promoting climate resilient societies? What is cascading risk and how does it relate to concurrent and compounding events? What can be learned from the field? Are there differences between remote and urban areas? The discussion proposes a reflection on how limitations in time scales, budgets, and operational capacity could affect resilience, offering an approach to move beyond the status quo and promoting societal resilience.

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Overcrowding and sense of home in the Canadian Arctic

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

How many in a crowd? Assessing overcrowding measures in Australian housing

Promoting Societal Resilience to Cascading Risk and Concurrencies

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