Authors' objectives: To synthesise the evidence on outreach programmes to improve the health of Traveller Communities.

Authors' recommendations: Outreach workers need clarity about the purpose of their intervention, in terms of degrees of engagement (leading to the three outcome categories above). Where outreach aims to promote attendance at one-off events such as screening, the worker may not need to have long-established links with the Community. Changing behaviour or developing social capital, on the other hand, is a challenge that needs to build explicitly on long-established, trusting relationships. Any flexibility built into the intervention in terms of negotiating intervention topic can contribute significantly to the outcome. While true engagement with an issue must not be assumed from participation at an event, these events can be used as part of longer-term trust-building strategies. These synthesis approaches offer maximum translational potential for other marginalised groups. There is a need for more theoretically informed evaluations of engagement initiatives, in order to develop transferable lessons around how and for whom interventions work in different contexts. Further research is needed to test the explanatory potential of the framework in other socially excluded groups.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2014

URL for published report: http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/phr02030/#/abstract

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England, United Kingdom

Organisation Name: NIHR Public Health Research programme

Contact Address: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK

Contact Name: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

Contact Email: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

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