Traveller Health research – DCU involved in collaborative project

A major study examining the health status of Travellers throughout the island of Ireland has begun. This will measure the health of Travellers and the reasons for it, including the impact of current health services on Traveller health and the degree to which the community's socio-economic circumstances, culture and lifestyle impacts on their health.

The study is led by Professor Cecily Kelleher in the School of Public Health and Population Science at University College Dublin. The DCU arm of the study, on Health Service use and access by Travellers, is led by Professor Anthony Staines and Dr. Mary Rose Sweeney from the School of Nursing at Dublin City University.

The findings from the study, jointly funded by the Department of Health and Children, Ireland, the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Northern Ireland, and with the support of Traveller organisations and FAS, will provide a framework for policy development and practice in relation to Traveller health.

“I am delighted to have jointly commissioned this study with our partners in Northern Ireland,” said the Minister for Health and Children, Ms Mary Harney TD. “It is the culmination of considerable work undertaken in consultation with Traveller organisations, health service providers and other interest groups.”

“Traveller health has been a priority area for health services over many years and this has led to a considerable investment in traveller health infrastructure. The findings from this study will provide evidence and insights to inform future policy and service provision.”

“This study is for, with and by Travellers” said Professor Cecily Kelleher, Head of the UCD School of Public Health and Population Science, who is leading the research. “We have had over a year of detailed consultation and planning to get to the fieldwork stage and now have a really remarkable electronic questionnaire to ensure the best quality information can be collected with nearly 10,000 families across the country. We hope quite literally to give Travellers themselves a voice in their future health”.

Professor Anthony Staines, Head of Health Systems Research in DCU said “Access to health services in Ireland is difficult for many people partly because of the two tier health system, and partly due to limited supply of services in different areas. Travellers are particularly affected by this and often have great difficulty in accessing basic health care. Our intention is to study why this is, and to look for possible solutions”.

The first Travellers to take part in the study were interviewed on Tuesday 14th October 2008. With laptops and online questionnaires, researchers visited the Travellers in their own community to collect information related to their health status.

To ensure that all Travellers have every opportunity to fully participate in every stage of the data collection, Traveller organisations from across the country have been working with the Traveller community to inform all Travellers of the importance of this major study. The researchers hope that all individuals who self ascribe themselves as Travellers will volunteer to take part in the study to provide a full-comprehensive census of the Traveller population in Ireland.