Traveller women in health programme

A GROUP of 70 Traveller women throughout the South-East region are benefiting from a programme of health education, personal development and literacy skills aimed at improving the overall health of the Traveller community.

The programme, run by the Health Services Executive - South-East, aims to give women the opportunity to become advocates for improved health within both the health service and their own communities.

Travellers have much higher rates of infant mortality and sudden infant death syndrome and much shorter life expectancy than the population generally. Both men and women in the Traveller community live for up to 13 years less than the general population. This health profile is linked to poor accommodation and poor hygiene facilities. There are 900 Traveller families in the South-East.

“The key idea is to engage with the Travellers and have them participate in the health service,” Liam Keane, regional co-ordinator for Traveller health, explained.

The last major study by the Traveller Task Force in the mid-1990s showed that Travellers had a smoking rate of 62%, compared to 28% of the general population. A further 40% of Travellers suffered ongoing family health problems and 46.5% had been at a GP between one and five times in the previous year.

The women in the programme are trained and some are then employed by the health service to train staff on Traveller culture and discrimination.