for Arctic Adaptations competition, held by Lateral Office, 2013
with Jake Ford
PROLOGUE
98% of medical travel originating from nunavut occurs for scheduled, specialized treatment in southern hospitals, unavailable in nunavut due to low population density. Dislocated patients are geographically removed from familiar surroundings and loved ones at times in which they are meant to heal. Mental and physical health conditions are aggravated by cultural and language barriers, while the social and medical support systems lack consistency, increasing stress.
As the Nunavimmiut population grows, pressure to provide adequate medical and social support to travelling patients will increase on southern hospitals and boarding houses, and demand will grow for travelling specialists.
PLOT
NU HEALTH EMBASSY aims to improve health in nunavut by treating deficiencies in the current medical travel network as opportunities to reclaim territory, empower inuit, and improve holistic wellness and treatment for travelling patients, and train health care professionals for practice in the north.
regional health network
At a regional scale, we propose health consulates stationed in regional centres to collect and harbour overnight travellers from their respective regions in preparation for the journey south through Iqualuit to Ottawa.
The Nunavut health embassy
Land between the major ottawa treatment centres for health travellers is CLAIMED AS NUNAVUT TERRITORY. The transition from Ottawa into Nunavut territory is demarcated by an emergent Arctic tundra landscape. The health embassy houses Nunavimmiut while they undergo treatment nearby, aiming to decrease stress and homesickness and increase the efficacy of treatments. Traditional health care, boarding, social programming and typologies merge to form new collective terrains.
