About us
The Centre for Sami Health Research (CSHR), Sámi dearvvašvuođadutkama guovvdáš, is an independent centre under the Department of Community Medicine at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The main aim of the CSHF is to enhance knowledge of the health and life of Sami people in Norway.
The emphasis in the CSHF is on interdisciplinary research, mainly population-based studies using quantitative methods. The Population-based Study on Health and Living Conditions in Regions with Sami and Norwegian Populations – SAMINOR is the most important research project of the centre. Two surveys have been conducted to date, SAMINOR 1 from 2003 to 2004, and SAMINOR 2 from 2012 to 2014. The CSHF is already planning its third survey, SAMINOR 3.
The CSHF has been commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Care Services (HOD) to conduct research on the health and life of Sami people in Norway, and HOD provides basic funding for the centre. However, many of the projects are financed by external funding.
History
The Centre for Sami Health Research (CSHF) was established in January 2001 because of limited knowledge about the health and life of Sami people in Norway. An official report from 1995, NOU 1995:6 Plan for helse- og sosialtjenester til den samiske befolkning i Norge (Plan for Health and Social Services for the Sami Population in Norway), demonstrated a need for more knowledge and research on the health and life of the Sami. On the initiative of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, a working group was set up in 1998 to study the need for a centre for ethnic medicine in Norway. The following year, the group had completed its report; it included a proposal to create a division at the University of Tromsø called Sami Health Research (Sámi dearvvašvuođadutkan).
