The Romani, Gypsy, Traveller and Roma are recognised minority ethnic groups with their own histories and cultures. Unfortunately, these distinctions are not often understood, recognised or appreciated in policy and practice by service providers. As a result they can not only experience a range of inequalities due to marginalisation and discrimination, but also may be invisible in administrative datasets, such that their specific health needs, for example, may be overlooked or ignored. The overall aim of the project was to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes for Gypsy & Traveller women (GTW) in York Objectives 1. To enable Gypsy and Traveller women to access sexual and reproductive health information & signposting through a trusted person based in the community. 2. To understand the needs of GTW with regards to their reproductive and sexual health and identify current gaps in service provision. 3. To empower GTW to guide sexual and reproductive health services to develop effective community services and interventions. Results The project resulted in the participant-led development of educational resources (See Appendix) which will be made freely available so that others can utilise and benefit from them, the formation of a peer support group, clarity about effective pathways into local clinical services and the planned implementation of more sensitive and appropriate community-based clinical services. Conclusion It was clear that there were gaps in provision and a lack of understanding of the needs of this group of women by some service providers. The terminology used in particular needs to be explored to ensure that it is culturally appropriate and further training of service providers will be necessary. There are plans to work with York Travellers Trust to provide such training and also to deliver services through them such as a dedicated family planning clinic
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)