Traveller Men’s Health programme
OTM employs a Men’s Health Worker who delivers the men’s health programme to Travellers living in Co. Offaly. Traveller men live 15 years less than the settled population. They have six times higher suicide rates than the settled population and heart disease and stroke account for 25% of deaths. There is also a 15% higher rate of smoking and 66.3% of Travellers said illicit drug use is a problem. It is impossible to divorce these inequalities in health outcomes from the discrimination and inequality experienced more generally by the Traveller community.
The Men’s Health Programme includes the following:
- Engaging local Traveller men, leading to improved health outcomes
- Improving engagement of Traveller men with existing health services in Offaly
- Developing and facilitating sports and leisure opportunities for Traveller men in Offaly
- Facilitating bi-annual health checks for men
- Improving awareness of mental health issues with Traveller men in Offaly
- Encouraging dialogue and raising awareness of suicide with Traveller men
- Establishing and participating in the Travellers Men’s Health Network
- Linking in with local, regional and national structures and ensuring that Traveller men from Offaly participate in
decision making processes thataffects their lives - Exploring issues in relation to training and employment/unemployment
- Engaging Travellers in the OTM Horse Project
- Addressing the isolation experienced by older Traveller men in Offaly
- Supporting social justice and human rights campaign
