Dr Peter Unwin, Principal Lecturer in Social work, University of Worcester
I have a practitioner and managerial background in social work, am a Director of the Romani and Traveller Social Work CIC, and Principal Lecturer at the University of Worcester. In line with most of the social work profession, I knew very little about Romani and Traveller culture until carrying out some Community Fund research five years in co-production with Shaping Our Lives Disability Network, where we identified Disabled people within Romani and Traveller communities as absent from any debate on disability. In co-production with community members, I have since built on this research by way of a grant from the NHS Race and Health Observatory into mental health - Inequalities in Mental Health Care for Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Communities, Identifying Best Practice - NHS – Race and Health Observatory Issues of historical trauma were a ‘live’ issue for many community members, as was the continual drip of racism from all corners. Romanian slavery was very much to the fore in Roma mindsets and the avoidance of contact with mental health services can be partly attributed to the ongoing consequences of such state oppression. Similarly, the genocide of the Holocaust is still real in many families, whose oral history- telling keeps these traumas alive. The passing of the Police Act (2022) continues this vein of state oppression, as does the disproportionate numbers of Romani and Traveller children being removed into state care. By an ironic twist of fate, social workers not Gypsies, have become the ’child snatchers’. The Romani and Traveller Social Work CIC are committed to lessening the traumas of such practice, and I am happy to collaborate with community members and all health/social care colleagues in any ways which bring about positive change.
Jake Bowers’ powerful trio of ‘Reaching’ films, which will be discussed at the conference, are an excellent example of how a research project’s findings have been followed up by a funder (NHS Race and Health Observatory) with the intention of making a difference in communities and among professionals. Most commissioned reports into the parlous state of mental and physical health in Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities over the decades have had no positive impact, indeed poor mental health and suicide rates have worsened, largely due to discrimination and a lack of outreach by health and social care professionals.