Dr Philip Crowley, Department of Health and Children; Jill Turner, Project Director, UCD; Brigid Quirke, UCD ; Missie Collins, Public Health Care Worker, Pavee Point; Claire Kelly, Project Researcher, UCD; Professor Cecily Kelleher, Head of the UCD School of Public Health & Population Science; Minister for Health & Children, Mary Harney TD; & Mary Brigid Collins, Co-ordinator for Peer Researchers.
A major study examining the health status of Travellers throughout the island of Ireland has begun. The research will assess Traveller health and the factors associated with 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 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”.
The Traveller Health research
project is led by University College Dublin, in collaboration with
researchers from the School of Nursing at Dublin City University.
The first Travellers to take part in the study will be interviewed on
Tuesday 14 October 2008. With laptops and online questionnaires,
researchers will visit 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.
