About Traveller Primary Health Care
What is Primary Health Care for Travellers?
The Traveller Primary Health Care programme aims to improve health outcomes of members of the Traveller Community. Travellers work as community health workers.
The concept of Primary Health Care was established by the World Health Organisation and is a flexible system which can be adapted to the health problems, culture, the way of life and the stage of development reached by a community.
Primary Health care for Travellers aims:
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To establish Primary Health Care as a Model of Good Practice to address Travellers’ Health.
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To develop the skills of Travellers in providing community based health services.
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To liaise and assist in dialogue between Travellers and health service providers.
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To highlight gaps in health service delivery to Travellers and work towards reducing inequalities that exist in established services.
The work of the project is underpinned by a community development approach. The project is informed by a social determinants of health analysis and Traveller Community Health Workers undertake health advocacy in a range of health arenas primarily through outreach work.
Inception of the project:
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The Primary Health care for Travellers project (PHTCP) was set up by Pavee Point in 1994 after health care was identified as a key area of focus by Traveller community workers after a needs assessment carried out in the 1990s of 85 families in Finglas
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The Pavee Point Primary Health Care for Travellers Project (PHCTP) was the first time Travellers went out into the Traveller Community with the aim to identify the health needs of Travellers
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The PHCTP aimed to set up a model of Traveller participation in the promotion of health
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Initially the project was met with resistance from the Eastern Health Board who were not convinced that Travellers, especially those with limited literacy, would be able to work on the ground.
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The project was established as a joint partnership initiative with the Eastern Health Board and Pavee Point and began as a pilot initiative in October 1994. Missie Collins remembers: “. They said it’s not going to work – Travellers working with Travellers. They said we can’t read or write. But, I said to myself, you can’t tell me that because I know our needs. We kept working away.” (source: 30 years of Pavee Point)
Achievements of the PHCTP:
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The Primary Health Care for Travellers project has been replicated and approximately 27 Traveller Primary Health Care Projects are in operation around the country, with two new projects more recently being developed
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As a result of the project, more Traveller women get health screenings than non-Travellers. 25% of Traveller women compared to 13% of women in the general population had breast cancer screening. 23% of Traveller women had a smear test (cervical cancer screening) compared to 12% of women in the general population.
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86% of Travellers got their information about Covid from Primary Health Care workers
All Ireland Traveller Health Study (2010)
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The PHCTP conducted the All Ireland Traveller Health Study (AITHS) in 2010.
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The AITHS was a resounding success due to the 300 Traveller Community Health Workers, mostly Traveller women on the ground;
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The study had over 80% participation, with over 40,000 Travellers taking part. This is underheard of in any research, particularly in a so-called ‘hard-to reach’ community. The AITHS illustrated the social determinants of health that impact on Travellers.
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Findings from the AITHS indicated a need the drastic inequalities in health between Travellers and non-Travellers
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AITHS indicated the need for a National Traveller Health Action Plan