The First Mile

Supported by the SSHRC-funded First Nations Innovation Project

First Nations, Inuit and Aboriginal Health: e-Health Solutions Unit (Health Canada)

Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) is responsible for providing health care for First Nations and Inuit peoples. Its e-Health Solutions unit develops programs in “support of e-Health infrastructure to ensure that First Nations and Inuit communities are connected and informed” (Health Canada, n.d.).

The eHealth Infostructure Program (eHIP) supports the use of ICT by front line healthcare workers in First Nations and Inuit communities in Canada in an effort to improve people’s health in these communities. The project focuses on “the adoption of modern information technology (IT) for the purpose of defining, collecting, communicating, managing, disseminating and using data to enable better access, quality and productivity in the health and health care” (Health Canada, 2013).