Outreach as a mechanism to improve Traveller health: a scoping and realist review Lesley Geddes (Fuse)
09.45, Wednesday 10 July. The Clubhouse, level 4
Background
The health status of Gypsy and Traveller community members in the UK is significantly worse when compared with other socio-economically disadvantaged groups among the settled population. Mistrust of mainstream health services resulting from experiences of discrimination, the lack of fit of mainstream services with transient lifestyles, and limited understanding of Gypsy and Traveller culture have combined to make access to health services difficult for these groups. Outreach programmes have been developed to fulfil a bridging role between mainstream services and Traveller Communities. However, as outreach for Traveller health improvement is a complex intervention in that it is not standardised but responsive to local need, and is scarcely evidenced, the synthesis of findings in order to draw clear lessons for policy and practice is challenging.
Methods
In response to the available evidence base, a combined scoping review and realist synthesis is being undertaken in an ongoing NIHR-commissioned study.
Key messages
The scoping review charted the extent, nature and quality of evidence on Traveller health improvement and situated the evidence specifically examining outreach interventions on Traveller health within the wider body of literature. The realist synthesis enabled the excavation of the key mechanisms of successful outreach interventions for Traveller Communities in different contexts.
Conclusions
Drawing on working examples of analysis processes, the presentation demonstrates how the combination of scoping and realist methods offered bespoke opportunities to draw meaningful lessons from a diverse and limited literature base. Examples will be given of the components of successful outreach and the favourable contextual conditions to this success in Traveller communities.
The health status of Gypsy and Traveller community members in the UK is significantly worse when compared with other socio-economically disadvantaged groups among the settled population. Mistrust of mainstream health services resulting from experiences of discrimination, the lack of fit of mainstream services with transient lifestyles, and limited understanding of Gypsy and Traveller culture have combined to make access to health services difficult for these groups. Outreach programmes have been developed to fulfil a bridging role between mainstream services and Traveller Communities. However, as outreach for Traveller health improvement is a complex intervention in that it is not standardised but responsive to local need, and is scarcely evidenced, the synthesis of findings in order to draw clear lessons for policy and practice is challenging.
Methods
In response to the available evidence base, a combined scoping review and realist synthesis is being undertaken in an ongoing NIHR-commissioned study.
Key messages
The scoping review charted the extent, nature and quality of evidence on Traveller health improvement and situated the evidence specifically examining outreach interventions on Traveller health within the wider body of literature. The realist synthesis enabled the excavation of the key mechanisms of successful outreach interventions for Traveller Communities in different contexts.
Conclusions
Drawing on working examples of analysis processes, the presentation demonstrates how the combination of scoping and realist methods offered bespoke opportunities to draw meaningful lessons from a diverse and limited literature base. Examples will be given of the components of successful outreach and the favourable contextual conditions to this success in Traveller communities.