Nursing in Contexts of Marginalised Health Conference (Presentations)

People can experience marginalization in social inclusion and health provision for a variety of reasons, for example; homelessness, poverty, migrancy, gender and sexual identity/practice, mental health problems, disability, substance use, stigma.  Marginalisation and poor health are interlinked and many of those who are marginalized experience complex health challenges which are strongly influenced by their individual social circumstances.

Nurses who work in contexts of marginalised health are at the forefront of providing comprehensive care to vulnerable and often stigmatised populations facing multiple and complex social and health problems.  Intensive, skilled nursing care is invariably required due to higher rates of mental and physical illness, complex co-morbidities and a lack of continuity of care (Wong 2008).  However,  reports from Ireland (O Carroll 2013) and elsewhere (Valaitis 2011) state that nurses working in these areas tend to be isolated and lack resources to support their practice including opportunities for educational and practice development. 

This conference was designed to bring nurses from a variety of services together to consider the contexts, practices and development of nursing in marginalised health in Ireland. The conference programme included speakers from Department of Health, HSE nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, Social Inclusion Unit, HSE,  Queens Nursing Homeless Health Initiative, UK and nurses working in this area.  Conference presentations can be found below.  We hope you find them useful.

Briege Casey, Denise Proudfoot and Mary Farrelly   Conference organisers

School of Nursing and Human Sciences, Dublin City University