Project IIRP11

Building Capacity for Inclusive Involvement in Research-Led Practice on access to healthcare with Travelling Communities

In response to reports from Travelling Communities and health practitioners who work with them, we facilitated workshops on Human Rights legislation and advocacy, and Participatory Research.

Background

This work aimed to help people from Travelling Communities (TCs) to effectively articulate how they experience barriers to accessing healthcare and to lay a foundation for their full and equal involvement in research that took place in late 2022. It aimed to empower Travelling Communities to co-produce research about interventions that could improve their access to healthcare.

Project Aims

The project aimed to enable members of Travelling Communities to learn more about their rights to health care and how to advocate for those rights. They also learnt more about inclusive involvement in research.

This work supported Travelling Communities to communicate their needs and their rights more effectively, to practitioners and policy makers who are in a position to implement sustainable improvements in the health care they receive.

Project Activity

  • This project co-designed workshops on Human Rights legislation and advocacy, and Participatory Research to Travelling Communities.
  • Travelling Communities were supported to present key messages to health professionals in an accessible format (such as a short video presentation, poster, booklet or webpage).

Anticipated Impact

  • Understand local lived experience of human rights through identifying barriers to accessing right to health in everyday lives.
  • Documentation of the relevant International and UK law and policy framework in relation to the right to health and barriers to access
  • Support for Travelling Communities in effectively advocating for their right to health in everyday lives, particularly through local, regional and national NHS organisational policy and practice.

Papers and Resources

  • Workshop participants and project team presented findings to East of England Health Organisations, with a focus on GP Practices in areas where there are high concentrations of TCs.
  • We also shared the findings of our workshops widely with our network of National, regional and local health organisations policy makers and practitioners.

Who was involved?

Principal investigator: Professor Ewen Speed, University of Essex

Researchers and institutions:

  • Dr Koldo Casla, University of Essex

  • Lyle Barker, University of Essex

  • Sally Burrows, University of Essex

Contact us

Sally Burrows, Sally.burrows@essex.ac.uk

IIRP11