Community Voices in Program Development: The Wisdom of Individuals With Incarceration Experience

Abstract

he Canadian incarceration rate of 116 per 100,000 people reveals a relatively high rate of incarceration compared to Western European countries. 1 Although the absolute number of Canadians with incarceration experience is relatively small, they experience many health inequities and are among the most underserved populations in Canada. 2-5 Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that the determinants of criminality and recidivism are similar to the determinants of health. For example, criminal behaviour patterns are associated with substance dependence which is often an expression of trauma and unmet health and social needs, including inaccessible health care services. 6 Imprisonment itself also negatively impacts health for several reasons, including separation from family, unhygienic facilities, and poor self-care as a reaction to imprisonment. 7 Selfreported health problems are also found to increase with inmates' duration of incarceration. 8 Upon release from prison, individuals face many challenges to reintegration, including social exclusion, which is often underpinned by the stigma of incarceration. 5,9,10 Although health-seeking behaviours of prisoners can improve when appropriate prison health services are provided, barriers persist to accessing health services in the community. 11 As health care provision often focuses finite resources on the most pressing health needs, individuals with incarceration experience in particular have little access to preventive health programs. Indeed, the authors of the current article were unable to locate any Canadian-based preventive health promotion programs targeted to individuals with incarceration experience living in the community. The Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education (CCPHE) at the University of British Columbia is committed to using participatory processes of engagement in order to

Patients as partners in health research: A scoping review

“…After duplicates were removed (n = 1521), 6684 records were screened, and 979 records were selected for full‐text review. A total of 78 academic/peer‐reviewed articles 10,27‐103 and 41 grey literature items 104‐144 were included (Figure 1).…”

Cancer stage at presentation for incarcerated patients at a single urban tertiary care center

“…During the time they are incarcerated, these patients receive variable access to health care that is dependent upon the state in which they are incarcerated, the length of their incarceration, and the arrangements for health care providers made by their institution [1]. Incarcerated patients (IP) face both systemic barriers to care as well as vulnerability due to impediments to selfadvocating due to their status as an inmate [2]. Both these issues may delay or limit their receipt of treatments that-outside the prison system-are more often given, such as direct-acting anti-viral agents for hepatitis C infection and opioid maintenance therapy for substance use disorders [3,4].…”

Familial support impacts incarcerated women ' s housing stability

“…As identified by incarcerated women in British Columbia, Canada, the risk of homelessness is a major health concern (Martin et al, 2009a, b;O'Gorman et al, 2012). Housing is a basic social determinant of health; housing instability is associated with numerous negative health outcomes, as well as difficult community reentry and recidivism among incarcerated populations (Baillargeon et al, 2009;Fitzpatrick-Lewis et al, 2011;Greenberg and Rosenheck, 2008b;Kim et al, 2011;Lasovich, 1996;Lewis, 2006).…”