Health indicators in a prison population: Asking prisoners

Abstract

Objective To collect information on health determinants directly from prisoners, complementary to a needs assessment. Design Self-completion multiple-choice questionnaire to a sample based on alternate cells. " Setting Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Cardiff. Method Three hundred men received questionnaires with an offer of confidential help, which was accepted by two. Questions included qualifications, previous occupation, drug, alcohol and medical history, smoking, perceived threats, worries, diet, exercise, drugs in prison, access to services, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale. Results Of 133 (44 per cent) who responded, more than half had left school prematurely. Thirty-three (25 per cent) drank 90 alcohol units or more weekly before prison and 91 (68 per cent) used illegal drugs, with 44 (33 per cent) using in prison. Of the 112 (84 per cent) who smoked, 89 (79 per cent) wished to quit. Ninety-one (68 per cent) never took vigorous exercise, and 83 (62 per cent) ate less than three portions of fruit and/or vegetables daily. Only 41 (35 per cent) were within the normal HAD range for both anxiety and depression. Conclusion This study highlights concurrent high levels of adverse health determinants in prisoners. Targeting these determinants should improve health and decrease the chance of returning to criminality on release.

The significance of ‘the visit’ in an English category-B prison: views from prisoners, prisoners’ families and prison staff

“…Arguably, in a contemporary prison service it is not acceptable that families feel unwelcome when visiting. However, this may be a contributory factor which has seen prison visits declining over the past number of years despite the prison population steadily increasing (Broadhead, 2002;Salmon, 2005 Prisoners did worry about not seeing their family and about relationships breaking down, as found in other studies (Lester, Hamilton-Kirkwood, & Jones, 2003), and it is unsurprising that for the majority of prisoners the visit was the main highlight of prison life, often lifting mood and enhancing "emotional survival" (Dodge & Pogrebin, 2001, p.51). Prisoners had strong views on how visiting could be improved, as very few were satisfied by the visits process, often commenting that the prison facilities were poor and not conducive to promoting family ties and that they were better in other prisons.…”

Barriers and facilitators to a criminal justice tobacco control coordinator: an innovative approach to supporting smoking cessation among offenders

“…In England and Wales, smoking rates among prisoners are nearly four times higher than in the general population at approximately 80% [1][2][3], a level comparable with other countries [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. A similarly high prevalence has also been found in police custody and probation [12,13], although the evidence is less well developed.…”

Health promotion and young prisoners: a European perspective

“…As noted by both the experts and prisoners, drug and alcohol misuse prior to imprisonment is high in young prisoners and this is an area that warrants attention (Singleton et al, 1998;Borrill et al, 2003;Lester et al, 2003). Additionally some young prisoners may continue to use drugs and adopt risky behaviours in prison, such as sharing injecting equipment (Bellis et al, 1997), which contributes to the spread of HIV and Hepatitis B (Gore et al, 1999).…”