Travelling to wellbeing in OTM: A review of the implementation of a preventative mental health recovery programme for Travellers in County Offaly
Louise Kinlen, PhD, March 2025
Read the full report here by clicking on this link – Final OTM Travelling to Wellbeing Review May 25
Summary Recommendations of Review
Based on the findings from the interviews and the secondary data, several recommendations can be made
to improve the Travelling to Wellbeing programme:
- Improve collaboration and awareness of Traveller culture amongst service providers: There
is a need for more training and awareness among service providers to improve their understanding
of Traveller culture and issues. This was a recurring theme amongst the interviews, with many of
the opinion that Travellers in Offaly found it difficult to access services. Some initiatives such as
the recent collaboration event with Tusla have been very useful in fostering greater collaboration
and understanding. - Continue to document the T2WB recovery model in use: The culturally appropriate recovery
model being implemented is evidence based, relevant, well thought out, and is making a positive
impact. It would be useful to document the model that could be replicated elsewhere. Parts of it
have already been done and it would be useful to collate it into one updated ‘Travelling to
Wellbeing’ Manual that could be replicated elsewhere. This could include the mission, ethos,
ways of working, evidence base, culturally appropriate responses, staff roles and qualifications,
co-production processes etc. It is recognised that specific funding may be required to help
document and publish this model. - Fully implement the ‘Minceirs Tairien’ (Travellers Talking) Recovery Model: With appropriate
funding, the programme could implement more group based and community level awareness
raising on mental health and wellbeing related issues. - Increase funding for the programme: There is a need for more sustainable and multi-annual
funding to ensure the continued success of the programme and help address the demand for
services and reduce staff burnout. - Specific funding for additional individual counselling: The 3 hours per week of counselling is
currently funded through Tusla and not through the HSE. It would be useful to incorporate
additional counselling hours specifically into the T2WB programme and it would complement the
other supports in place. Participants spoke very highly about the culturally appropriate
counselling service they had engaged with. - Review the model of extension to other counties, including funding and resource allocation:
The implementation of T2WB in other counties did not form part of this review per se, but was
alluded to in several interviews. With such limited resources, it is difficult to replicate T2WB to the
same extent in other counties. The model currently in place is that a social worker based in OTM
in Tullamore provides an outreach service in two other counties, based on a response to a need
that OTM saw. This outreach is not part of the current NOSP funding structure. Some had a sense
that this meant the resource was spread too thinly. It would be beneficial to review these
structures and look towards building up capacity, funding and a structure that would allow the
model to be implemented directly by the Traveller organisations in other counties, with overall
support, training and some co-ordination provided through OTM. - Develop an ongoing monitoring and evaluation framework to capture outcomes data and
models of good practice: This was a recommendation of the previous evaluation report but is
challenging to implement. It was noted that filling out forms is not appropriate for the population
and other methods of data collection may be needed. A co-design model of how to capture
outcomes from the work could be developed with participants, focusing on what they think are the
important elements. It would also be useful to conduct case studies, possibly 2-3 per year that
would showcase the work in an anonymous way. It is to be noted however that developing and
implementing monitoring and evaluation tools require extra time and resources, including
specialised skillsets. There is not sufficient provision within current funding to enable this. Ethical
and GDPR considerations in relation to the collection of data would also need to be considered.