Asthma Society, Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre and the HSE Social Inclusion South East Community Healthcare collaborate to launch asthma resources for minority groups.
The Asthma Society of Ireland, in collaboration with HSE Social Inclusion South East Community Healthcare and Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, today launched their Asthma Education Inclusion project, providing culturally appropriate, literacy friendly resources and materials for Roma, Refugees, People Seeking International Protection and the Traveller community.
The aim of this project is to improve the respiratory health of these communities by developing literacy friendly information resources to support intercultural health workers and healthcare professionals to communicate key messages relating to asthma to their client groups.
These resources include:
- ‘Top Tips for Asthma Management,’ providing ten tips for asthma management and outlines what an asthma attack is and the steps to follow when someone is having an asthma attack (5 Step Rule) as well as detailing what triggers are. The leaflet is available in eight languages; Romanian, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, Georgian, Urdu and Portuguese Iberian.
- An educational ‘5 Step Rule’ animation video outlines what an asthma attack is and what to do if someone is experiencing an attack. The video is available in eight languages; Romanian, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, Georgian, Urdu and Portuguese Iberian.
- An asthma educational video, featuring Consultant Respiratory Physician Professor Stephen Lane, provides information on asthma and asthma management, explains what triggers are and emphasizes the importance of completing an Asthma Action Plan with a GP. This video has been translated into Romanian, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, Georgian and Pashto.
- ‘Traveller, Asthma, COPD & COVID-19; Living with Coronavirus’ offers targeted advice on how to stay well during COVID-19 for people with asthma and/or COPD and where to seek additional help.
These comprehensive resources will be shared with intercultural health workers and healthcare professionals, working with these communities. They will also be made available in various accommodation centers, Emergency Reception and Orientation Centers nationwide and will be distributed by Traveller Community Health Workers through Traveller Primary Health Care Projects nationally as well as Roma community health workers for members of the Roma community
They will include both materials which intercultural health workers can provide directly to members of the communities and resources to educate the health workers themselves.
As part of this launch, The Asthma Society are hosting a webinar event on Wednesday, 20th January at 5:30pm, featuring Ruth Morrow, Respiratory Nurse Specialist, Suzanne Nolan, HSE South East Regional Roma Health Lead, Alex Petrovics, Wexford Roma Community Inclusion Programme Lead, Ovidiu Matiut Supervisor of the Intercultural Health Hub in Waterford and South Tipperary Community Youth Services and Mary Brigid Collins, Assistant Coordinator Pavee Point Traveller Primary Health Care Project. The aim of this webinar is to demonstrate and promote these newly developed health education resources, to equip intercultural health workers and healthcare professionals with the knowledge and materials to assist with asthma education with their client groups. The free event will take place on Zoom, and registration can be completed via: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n0htxhaMSj2YSixuoTKo-w
Emily Blennerhasset, Interim CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland said of the programme: “The Asthma Society is proud to have worked closely with the HSE Social Inclusion South East Community Healthcare and Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre in the creation of these educational resources.
Resources were collated following focus groups and consultations which identified the needs, and resources necessary, to support asthma education within the Roma, Refugee, People Seeking International Protection and the Traveller communities and have been translated into eight languages whilst ensuring they are culturally appropriate.
The Asthma Society aims to improve asthma quality of life for all. We hope that these resources, which have been translated into eight languages, and adapted to ensure that they are culturally appropriate, will help us in that mission.”
Suzanne Nolan from HSE Social Inclusion South East said of the initiative: “We welcome the new resources that have been developed as part of this project and also translated into the main language spoken by Roma community members in Ireland. We hope that our partnership with the Asthma Society and the new resources produced will increase the health information available on Asthma to Roma in Ireland.”
Angela Joy HSE South East Social Inclusion stated that, “these new resources will be of benefit to Refugees and Protection Applicants living with Asthma in Ireland and will support the Intercultural Health Advocates working with these communities in the Southeast and elsewhere”
Mary Brigid Collins, Assistant Coordinator, Traveller Primary Health Care Project, Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre: “Health messages targeted at the Traveller community are very welcome. It says – this information is for you. After years of exclusion many Travellers assume that information for the general population doesn’t include Travellers”.
“Asthma is a real concern for Travellers. We know from the All Ireland Traveller Health Study (2010)[1] that more Travellers die due to respiratory conditions than the general population. Traveller Primary Health Care Projects are working hard around the country to help share information and strengthen asthma management within the Traveller community.”
Ruth Armstrong from the HSE National Social Inclusion Office stated that “a significant proportion of the population living in Ireland today is of non-Irish origin, with Census 2016 confirming that 17% of our population are foreign born and we are keen to ensure that health information is available to members of these diverse communities. This is also in line with Goal 1 (pg 11) of the HSE Second National Intercultural Health Strategy (2018-2023), which is to provide information in accessible, culturally responsive ways. The HSE National Social Inclusion office has funded these projects to support the provision of literacy friendly information and educational resources for populations who don’t speak English as their first language and also for those who have literacy difficulties, including Irish Travellers.”
The Asthma Education Inclusion Project consists of two bodies of work. The first being for Roma, Refugees, and People Seeking International Protection, was a collaboration between the Asthma Society and the HSE Social Inclusion in the South East. The second, for the Traveller community, is a collaboration between the Asthma Society and the Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre. Both pieces of work were funded by the HSE National Social Inclusion Office.
Record numbers of people require the Asthma Society’s help right now. 380,000 in Ireland are living with asthma, with 890,000 likely to develop it in their lifetime. The Asthma Society operates two support services, the HSE funded Nurse-led Asthma and COPD Adviceline service on 1800 44 54 64, and the Sláintecare funded Nurse-led Asthma and COPD WhatsApp messaging service on 086 059 0132. These lifesaving services allow people with asthma and COPD to connect directly with a respiratory nurse who will work with them on an ongoing basis to help them get in control of their asthma or COPD.
For more information, and to access these new resources, visit https://www.asthma.ie/asthma-education-inclusion-project
