Life support: Stories of the impact of the Community Health Worker service on Gypsy/Traveller communities in Scotland

This video was co-produced with Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland to show the impact of the Community Health Worker (CHW) service in mitigating health and social inequalities experienced by Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland.

The CHW service, initiated as part of the Scottish Government and COSLA’s joint action plan in 2019 and its successful model has been delivered by third sector organisation, Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project (MECOPP) since 2021.

CHWs are trained and trusted Gypsy/Travellers who advocate for their community on health and social care issues.

These stories of the impact the Community Health Worker service on Gypsy/Traveller communities in Scotland reinforce the findings of the evaluation of the service published in 2024 (McFadden; Biazus Dalcin; Vidal, 2024). This evaluation showed the importance of the CHWs in improving health and wellbeing of the Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland and reducing inequalities. The evaluation demonstrated the acceptability of the service and the need for sustainability and scale-up.
We appreciate the collaboration and support provided by MECOPP and all the Gypsy/Traveller Community Health Workers.
This work was led by Camila Biazus Dalcin and Alison McFadden, members of the Mother, Infant and Child Research Unit (MIRU), School of Health Sciences, University of Dundee, in partnership with MECOPP.
The project was funded by Collaborate for Impact (C4I), University of Dundee, Scotland, UK.

Further resources are available

Evaluation of a Gypsy/Traveller Community Health Worker service: Final Report
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/evaluation-of-a-gypsytraveller-community-health-worker-service-fi

How Community Health Workers support the Gypsy/Traveller community: Health Support
(infographic 1): https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/how-community-health-workers-support-the-gypsytraveller-community-2

How Community Health Workers support the Gypsy/Traveller community: Beyond Health Support (infographic 2): https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/how-community-health-workers-support-the-gypsytraveller-community

MECOPP: https://www.mecopp.org.uk/

Authors:
Camila Biazus-Dalcin (UoD)
Alison McFadden (UoD)
Janie Stewart (MECOPP)
Virginia Francis (MECOPP)
Charise Barclay Daly (MECOPP)
Andrew Low (Artist)
Anne (Developer)
Connie (Developer)
Chantelle (Developer)
Danielle (Developer)
Navena (Developer)
Sharon (Developer)
Stephanie (Developer)
Sue-Ellen (Developer)
Violet (Developer)