We officially launched our new national Healthy Ageing Project tailored for the Irish community in Britain in May 2024.
The primary goal of this strategic health project is to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of our ageing community, while also informing a longer-term Healthy Ageing Strategy. Our strategy revolves around five pillars.
Health inequalities in the Irish community in Britain are often overlooked because Irish ethnicity can be grouped under the broader "White" category in census data. This lack of specific ethnicity monitoring makes distinct health challenges invisible, resulting in gaps in research, policy and service provision.
Older Irish people face higher rates of chronic conditions such as hypertension, stroke, heart disease, cancers, respiratory and musculoskeletal disorders. Mental health challenges are prevalent, with high rates of depression. Irish women have some of the highest rates of hospital admission and readmission for self-harm.
There is low uptake of preventive health measures including cancer screenings, flu and COVID-19 vaccinations and NHS health checks. The lack of culturally appropriate health interventions and limited access to long-term condition management services further exacerbates these disparities.
The Healthy Ageing Project seeks to address these gaps by promoting equitable access to health services, enhancing health literacy and fostering community resilience.
What we are doing in the first stages?
- Meeting our members to understand their needs and spotlight their healthy ageing activities.
- Building relationships with external organisations to understand what is already being done around healthy ageing and inviting collaboration.
- Creating monthly health themes to ensure we fully research the topic to provide information for our members, that will include, funding opportunities, organisation links, policy, training, workshops etc.
- Making all information accessible. Creating media that all members can listen to and share.
- Informing the wider population of the Irish heritage and culture. To help them to understand that we are the oldest ethnic minority in Britain.
- Ensuring that Irish culture is at the forefront of delivering new activities to members for healthy ageing activities.
Get Involved
We are keen to collaborate with statutory bodies, health organisations and community groups to:
Share data and best practices to inform service development
Support outreach and collaboration with membership organisations
Develop culturally appropriate health interventions
Co-deliver health workshops and training sessions
Contact for the South, West and East of England: Hayley Reynolds - hreynolds@irishinbritain.org
Contact for the North and Midlands of England: Mina Sonariwo - msonariwo@irishinbritain.org
This project has been made possible due to funding from the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund for a National Healthy Ageing Project tailored for the Irish community in Britain.