Technical Report - Donegal Traveller's Project

All Ireland Traveller Health StudyRegional Traveller Health NetworksThese networks were initially developed as a structure to support Traveller organisations working inhealth and are used to elect representatives on to the THU and ensure they have a mandate and afeedback mechanism to local Traveller groups. The National and Regional Traveller Networks coordinate,host and resource NTHN meetings. The NTHN also uses these committees to pass on information onnational policy developments and get feedback on local initiatives and challenges. These networkshave been strengthened and resourced by the THUs since 2004 to facilitate the decentralisation of thetraining and the capacity building by Pavee Point to regional level.Pavee Point also resource the national and regional Traveller health networks as a forum for training,representation, feedback and information exchange for Travellers and Traveller organisations. Theroles of these regional and national networks were expanded (as outlined below) to act as a key linkbetween Traveller, Traveller organisations and the study team at UCD.National and Regional Traveller Networks and the All Ireland Traveller Health StudyThese networks have acted as vital liaison points in the inclusion of Travellers as key stakeholders in theimplementation of the AITHS. In this regard, they participated in such roles as• ensuring that Travellers and Traveller organisations understood the rationale and implications of thestudy• ensuring that Travellers and Traveller organisations had a sense of ‘ownership’ of the study• the ongoing development of the capacity of Travellers to engage with the study• the identification of key informants in each region to support the study• the support of the mapping and count in the geographical areas with Traveller populations• the identification of, and the development of a contact system for, hard-to-reach Traveller groupssuch as those resident in institutions, or those who were homeless• the development of a local preliminary scoping census of Travellers in each region to facilitatefurther development of the sampling framework for the study.Local Health OfficesLocal Health Offices (LHOs) act as entry points for communities to access health and social services, andthe Traveller Primary Healthcare Projects act in partnership with the HSE through these offices. EachLHO area with a significant Traveller population has a Traveller Area Health Committee.The HSE played a pivotal role in the study through using these structures and mechanisms andadvised the LHO Managers to support the study and facilitate release and access to staff and projectsas appropriate. HSE staff made the support of the AITHS a priority, particularly for those staff workingdirectly with the Traveller community. The Primary Healthcare for Travellers Projects (PHCTPs) had a keyrole to play in the data collection for the Traveller needs assessment, and Traveller primary healthcareworkers acted as ‘Peer Researchers’ in the study. The Public Health Nursing Service also had a key rolein the collection of data on births and in the follow up relating to further data collection for the birthcohort study.36