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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
editorial
. 2007 Nov 1;98(6):444–446. doi: 10.1007/BF03405435

Innovative Approaches in Public Health Research

Applying Life Course Epidemiology to Aboriginal Health Research

Elizabeth A Estey 1,✉, Andrew M Kmetic 1, Jeff Reading 1
PMCID: PMC6975814  PMID: 19039879

Abstract

A life course epidemiology approach embraces the complexity of disease risk and acknowledges the long-term effects of physical, social, psychological, and behaviour pathways, operating across an individual’s life, a community’s generation, and a population’s development, on health and well-being. Researchers who adopt a life course epidemiology approach broaden their ability to understand, explain, and prescribe ways to mitigate the effects of chronic diseases and reduce risk factor development and interaction. Although there are many diseases that explicate the importance and usefulness of a life course approach for Aboriginal health research, this commentary focuses on the benefits for understanding chronic respiratory diseases in Aboriginal populations. The hope is that this will expose the benefits of a life course approach for the study of Aboriginal health research and draw attention to the need for well-rounded, high-quality Aboriginal respiratory health research.

MeSH terms: Indigenous populations, epidemiology, techniques, chronic diseases, respiratory tract diseases

Footnotes

Source of funding: Ms. Estey is supported by a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship–Master’s Award. Dr. Kmetic is supported by a CIHR-Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

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