Overview

Create a glossary of medical terms in Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun for use by patients, medical professionals and interpreters, to be distributed to all communities in Nunavut. Organize and index the book for easy reference in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French.

Client

Government of Nunavut, Dept. of Culture and Heritage

Services

  • Graphic Design
  • Communications & Marketing
Joining science and culture, Ayaya sourced medical illustrations for Inuktut medical terms.
Clear layout accommodated four languages.

Challenge: Reducing complex medical terms into simple language; varying interpretations of medical terms; multiple languages and dialects. Our task was to create a full-colour book with medical terms developed by the client in Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun.

Outcome: Better understanding of medical terms; improved communication about medical issues between patients and practitioners. Reduced stress from being better understood, resulting in better quality of health care for those whose first language is Inuktut, including elders. Glossary now used to train medical interpreters. Human Anatomy has become the authoritative source for medical terms, and has been reprinted several times. Our work included sourcing illustrations, graphic design, production, proofreading and printing. Organizing the book into sections and clear matching of terms and illustrations created an easy to read reference.

397 medical terms

795 illustrations

405 pages