THE FIRST comprehensive study of the health status of Travellers throughout the island of Ireland begins today.
Jointly funded by the Department of Health and the HSE in the Republic and by the Department of Health, Social Service and Public Safety in Northern Ireland, the study will assess the health of almost 10,000 Travellers across the island.
The first Travellers to take part in the study will be interviewed today using a novel electronic oral/visual questionnaire. Each family interview will last about 45 minutes using the new technique which focuses on the oral tradition among Travellers.
"This study is for, with and by Travellers," said Prof Cecily Kelleher of the School of Public Health and Population Science, who is leading the research. "We have had over a year detailed consultation and planning to get to the fieldwork stage and now have a remarkable electronic questionnaire to ensure the best quality information can be collected."
The research will be carried out by 360 Traveller researchers working from 54 centres. They will gather information on living conditions, health status and lifestyle. Every Traveller mother will be interviewed along with one other family member, either an adult or a child of five to 14 years old.
Two major sets of vital statistics will flow from the survey: a review of deaths in the past year which facilitate the calculation of mortality rates among Travellers; and the identification of a cohort of babies born to Travellers between October 14th, 2008 and October 13th, 2009.