An innovative approach to healthcare could improve the well being of Gypsy Travellers in Fife.
A team of nurses is building relationships with the region’s Gypsy Traveller community, which has a life expectancy 20 years below that of the general population.
Funding was provided to NHS Fife’s Keep Well initiative after statistics showed Travellers tended to die in their 50s, with only 4% living beyond the age of 70.
Traveller women also have twice the rate of disability than the Scottish average and 35% of the travelling community are living with at least two long term health conditions.
Reasons for that include the fact that many people delay seeking help until they reach crisis point and up to now there have been few records of which immunisations – if any – children get.
The Keep Well team usually carries out health checks in community venues where people can drop in off the street for advice and to have things like their weight, cholesterol and blood pressure measured.
Nurses are now carrying out a similar initiative in settled Traveller sites in Fife.
Margaret Bell from Keep Well said health care could be challenging to provide given how widely the community travels.
“They tend to have very poor health and wellbeing,” she said.
“The majority of Gypsy Traveller children don’t enrol in high school, therefore they’re under the radar because nobody is looking for them.”
A Fife Council-run programme has been in place for some time to improve literacy and skills but the Keep Well team will now concentrate on physical and mental health and increasing the uptake of services on offer, including immunisations and dental check-ups.
“We would like to improve self-esteem and improve relationships between Gypsy Travellers and health services,” said Margaret.
“The programme will be very flexible and we will respond to any information requests they make – things like first aid and healthy cooking for families.
“We have consulted with the Gypsy Traveller community and they have accepted our proposals wholeheartedly.”
The six-month initiative was trialled in one site in August and will go live this month.
