Technical Report - Donegal Traveller's Project

All Ireland Traveller Health Study2007) and the challenge is to understand what motivates those health choices and how supportivepositive changes can be made. Knowledge, skills and education are all important determinants, butso are factors such as amenities, income adequacy and ease of choice. ‘Making the healthier choice theeasier choice’, is a fundamental aspect of Health Promotion Strategy in Republic of Ireland (Departmentof Health, 2000). In areas such as diet, cultural practice and traditions are important, as well as accessto affordable, adequate food (Hodgins et al., 2006). Lifestyle can also be a signal as well as a symptomof ill-health. In the context of Travellers it is necessary to understand traditions, practice and culturalnorms when investigating lifestyle behaviours. The influence on disadvantaged groups of availability ofdrugs and other recreational substances and the compounding complexity of exposure of Travellers toadverse social scenarios in disadvantaged situations such as prisons all have to be taken into account(Hannon et al., 2007; Fountain, 2006).Brief History of Traveller Health Surveys in the PastThe 1963 Commission on Itinerancy ReportThe Commission on Itinerancy Report (Commission on Itinerancy, 1963) was the first formal initiative toaddress Traveller health. The terms of reference of the Commission as set out were:‘To enquire into the problem arising from the presence in the country of itinerants in considerable numbers; toexamine the economic, educational, health and social problems inherent in their way of life’.The starting point for the Commission therefore was that ‘itinerancy’ was a problem, and it was partof mainstream thinking at the time that solutions included rehabilitation, settlement and assimilationinto the general population. The Commission’s Report comments on the social and ethical behaviourof Travellers and their tendency to keep aloof from the majority population. There was no explicitacknowledgement or examination of issues such as discrimination towards Travellers.In chapter VII of its report the Commission examined various aspects of the health of Travellers, suchas medical requirements, adult, infant and child health, family size, conditions at birth, hygiene, foodsupply, clothing and age structure and life expectancy. Two health issues that gave them particularand appropriate concern were the high infant mortality rate (IMR) and the low life expectancy of theTravelling community in comparison to the national average.The Report of the Travelling People Review Body (1983)The Report of the Travelling People Review Body (Travelling People Review Body, 1983) was asked toexamine ‘the needs of Travellers who wish to continue a nomadic way of life’ and ‘how barriers of mistrustbetween the settled and Travelling communities can be broken down and mutual respect for each others’way of life increased’. It was thought that ‘the extent to which they (Travellers) will integrate into the settledcommunity will depend on individual decisions by them and not on decisions made by Travellers as a wholeor any grouping of them’.14