Primary Health Care Project for Travellers

Some background information

The West Limerick Primary Health Care Project (PHCP) for Travellers is up and running since September 2010. It is funded by the HSE. A number of women from the Traveller Community qualified as Community Health Workers after completing their FETAC Level 3 Community Health Advocacy Award earlier in 2010. At this time, there are seven Community Health Workers, along with a project coordinator, employed by West Limerick Resources. The project is in line with national health policy which aims to have Primary Health Care Projects for Travellers in all HSE regions where there is a significant Traveller population (see National Traveller Health Strategy 2002-2005).

A key piece of work that the team engaged in during the training phase was carrying out the research for the All-Ireland Traveller Health Study. This document was published in 2010 and is a valuable guide to the health needs of Travellers in Ireland.

Below is some brief information on the project’s mission, values, goals and activities. Contact details are at the end.

See the drop-down menu on the left for further information about our work.

Mission

West Limerick PHCP for Travellers aims to improve the health status and quality of life of Travellers in the West Limerick area.

Values

• 1. Being out ‘on the ground’
• 2. Keeping things simple
• 3. Learning all the time
• 4. Listening to what Travellers’ say about their health and using this to decide what we should do
• 5. Seeing health as being affected by our actions and by our social and living conditions
• 6. Seeing health as something that we need to live well and happily and not just ‘the absence of illness’
• 7. Showing what we do and what difference we are making
• 8. Supporting people to do things for themselves
• 9. Treating people fairly and respectfully
• 10. Using everyday English
• 11. Working with people in other organisations to help us do our job the best we can

What we hope to achieve

• 1. Improvement in general health knowledge of Travellers
• 2. Increase in Travellers’ awareness of health services and how to access them
• 3. Increase in Travellers’ uptake of health services
• 4. Increase in health promoting behaviour among Travellers
• 5. Increase in awareness of Traveller-related issues within the HSE particularly among frontline staff

What we hope to achieve

• 1. Work with Travellers in the community
• 2. Link with Services
• 3. Participate in relevant groups and networks
• 4. Deliver Cultural Awareness Training to HSE staff

Or email us at phcp@wlr.ie

The Community Health Workers – Winnie Harty, Bridget Harty, Margaret Harty, Hanna Hehir, Bridget Quilligan, and Myra O’Brien – generally work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9.30am-1.30pm

The Coordinator, Treasa Sheahan, generally works Monday to Thursday, 9am-5pm. Tel:  069 61316 (Ext.3)