Journal of Correctional Health Care

Since prisons were an epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the experience of correctional health care professionals (HCPs) may differ from HCPs in other settings. This cross-sectional descriptive study assessed stress, anxiety, and burnout levels in home and work environments among HCPs employed by one U.S. state prison system during the period of initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Participants ( N  = 444) were invited to voluntarily participate in an anonymous questionnaire distributed by prison administration from March 1 through May 17, 2021...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Although the harms of incarceration on health are well known, little is known about individuals' competing priorities to maintaining their health while on probation and parole after release from incarceration. We explored individuals' competing needs on probation and parole (lack of health insurance/access, hazardous alcohol use, substance use, food insecurity, un/underemployment, housing insecurity, lack of social support, length of recent incarceration, prohibitive monthly fees, criminal legal discrimination) to achieving well-being...

In a case example from the Kentucky HEALing Communities Study, extensive resources were deployed to address structural barriers and facilitate the provision of medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) in an urban county jail. However, implementation was unsuccessful, and this case example emphasizes the importance of including evidence-based medication for OUD (MOUD) treatment in the scope of work of jails' contracted medical providers. The privatization of correctional health care services allows local governments with opioid abatement funds to incorporate requirements into medical provider contracts to screen all people entering jails for OUD and to offer MOUD at intake, throughout incarceration, and upon release to everyone for whom it is clinically indicated...

Reentry is a difficult juncture for young adults (ages 18-24 years), who simultaneously face challenges of emerging adulthood. Although their health-related needs may be substantial, little is reported on young adults' reentry health care and social service needs. Furthermore, empirical measurements of factors affecting their engagement in reentry services after jail are lacking. We sought to describe health needs and predictors of linkages to reentry services for the 2,525 young adult participants in the Whole Person Care-LA Reentry program (WPC Reentry)...

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American jails process millions of bookings each year, and prior research has documented high rates of mental and physical ailments among people held in jails. The existing literature, however, provides only minimal insight into the occurrence of multiple health conditions. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of physical and mental health multimorbidity among people held in jails in the United States. Using a nationally representative sample of responses to the National Inmate Survey, 2011-2012 ( N  = 5,494), we analyzed reports of physical health conditions, mental health conditions, and disabilities among people in local jails...

A higher proportion of people in correctional settings have, or are at risk for, hepatitis C virus (HCV) due to socioeconomic factors, mental health concerns, substance use disorders, history of high-risk experiences, and more. Compared with the general population, the prevalence of HCV is 10 times higher among people who are incarcerated. The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to describe the HCV treatment cascade in a pharmacist-led clinic model, from referral through treatment completion and documentation of cure...

A variety of strategies have been implemented to identify, target, and prevent suicide in correctional settings. In recent decades, some prisons have adopted policies that use other incarcerated individuals to support people who have been identified as being at high risk of suicide. There has been little research on these policies and, of the few studies that have been conducted, all have relied on data from a single facility. This study takes a national approach by exploring how many departments of corrections (DOCs) include incarcerated individuals as part of their suicide prevention strategies and the characteristics of those programs...

Previous research indicates general health benefits of sport for imprisoned individuals. Nevertheless, the role of time spent in sporting activities during imprisonment and the type of sports setting (informal vs. organized) remain unclear. The study uses a quantitative, cross-sectional design. It is based on survey data ( N  = 568) from the Hessian Prison Sport Study, collected in 12 prisons in Hesse, Germany. By applying regression analyses, the study examines systematic relationships between time spent in sporting activities and incarcerated people's physical, mental, and social health...

People experiencing incarceration in the United States receive much of their health care outside of custodial settings. Optimizing care in this setting requires further understanding of the training and experiences of noncustodial health care workers. We conducted a cross-sectional, exploratory survey of health care workers at a single academic institution to assess their training and experiences related to caring for this patient population. Of 333 respondents, 94.1% had cared for patients experiencing incarceration but only 22...

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Early detection of infectious disease transmission is an important public health tool. We sought to evaluate how positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases, identified within 14 days of admission to a jail setting, are linked to local county incidence. Data were extracted from the electronic health record and publicly accessible websites. We compared positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 identified in the Santa Clara County (SCC) jail within 14 days of admission (250 cases) with positive cases reported in SCC (141,841 cases) between March 15, 2020, and October 2, 2021...

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To decrease the introduction of COVID-19, in-person visitation programs were temporarily limited at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities. After consultation with the California Department of Public Health, and in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, in-person visitation was reintroduced on April 10, 2021, with COVID-19 mitigation strategies. To assess the risk of visitation as a mode of entry for COVID-19 into a prison setting, data were gathered demonstrating the number of visitors who were not allowed into the prison due to a positive COVID-19 test prior to visitation...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Although research supports using brief or extended behavioral interventions to increase prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), there is a shortage of current information about the specific effects on women in a short-stay carceral environment. This evidence-based practice implementation project aimed to employ the Safer Sex Efficacy (SSE) Workshop in a jail setting. A repeated measures design was used to compare STI knowledge acquisition and reports of condom use self-efficacy in a group of incarcerated women before, immediately after, and 3 weeks after participation in a high-intensity behavioral counseling intervention...