Members of Ireland's Traveller community tend to have higher rates of asthma and poorer control of the condition compared to the general population, however a new health initiative aims to tackle this problem.

Research by the Department of Health has previously shown that Travellers often face certain barriers when it comes to accessing healthcare services. Many do not trust their healthcare providers or do not feel respected by them.

With asthma so common among this community, the Asthma Society of Ireland and the Pavee Point-Traveller & Roma Centre decided to develop a new health programme that delivered culturally appropriate asthma education to this community.

"Higher rates of asthma among Travellers have a harsh impact on our families and I feel that discrimination against Travellers makes us unlikely to seek help and support from healthcare providers," noted Missy Collins, a primary healthcare worker with Pavee Point.

The pilot programme used a ‘train the trainer' model. In other words, 32 community health workers from the Traveller community underwent training and then returned to their areas where they in turn trained their community health worker colleagues. These healthcare workers then worked in pairs to educate families in their area who were affected by asthma.

The pilot focused on Travellors in Cavan, Louth, Meath, Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.

"This programme set out to deliver training about asthma to Traveller healthcare workers, who have brought the knowledge back into the community allowing us to do strong work with families affected by asthma," Ms Collins said.

A recently launched report on the programme showed that the results were very successful, with participants reporting a better knowledge of their condition and better management of it.

The community healthcare workers also said that they felt confident in their ability to teach their colleagues.

According to Sharon Cosgrove, CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland, the programme has been ‘hugely successful'.

"Our vision is to improve the quality of care for asthma sufferers through the empowerment of patients and communities where the condition is more prevalent. This was a hugely successful initiative that enabled members of the Traveller community to take control of their condition, through an effective, transferable and cost-effective programme," she commented.

She said that the society is striving to bring the programme to Traveller and Roma communities nationwide.

"This programme has shown to be both an effective and low-cost means of enabling the Traveller community learn about the condition and improve their control of asthma and we couldn't be happier with the result," she added.

The programme was supported and funded by the HSE and according to Diane Nurse of the HSE's National Social Inclusion Office, it is ‘committed to further rollout of this programme'.

Asthma affects some 470,000 people in Ireland, including one in every five children. Every week in Ireland, one person dies from the condition, however 90% of deaths are preventable. For more information, see the Asthma Society's website here or see our Asthma Clinic here