National research exploring the experiences of Travellers using drug services

18 Nov 2011

Traveller drug programme

Pavee Point is an Irish NGO supporting Human Rights for Irish Travellers - an indigenous minority ethnic group in Ireland. It's a partnership of Travellers and settled people.

Among the various programmes which the organisation delivers, Pavee Point Drugs Programme exists to promote Traveller inclusion into the national, regional and local responses being developed to address drug and alcohol misuse, and to support Traveller organisations in tackling these issues within the Traveller community.

Guidelines

At the recent National Drug Conference of Ireland 2011, Pavee Point launched 'Pavee Pathways - Good practice guidelines for drug and alcohol services working with Travellers'

These guidelines were developed following a year-long piece of research carried out with 30 drug misusing Travellers from across Ireland to see what works for them when engaging in support services.

According to John Paul Collins of the Pavee Point Drugs Programme:

"A number of barriers to accessing drug services had previously been identified for members of the Traveller community so this research wanted to find out how these 30 Travellers overcame them and what they felt works for them in tackling their addiction."

Ten guidelines for services providers were developed from the findings which will influence how services engage with members of the Traveller community in the future.