Applying Public Health to Correctional Practices – Saving Communities

• In Event: PWG - Healthcare needs and the integration of public health into correctional systems

Abstract

Arrests and incarceration are not equally distributed among all members of society. In fact, one cannot ignore the fact that majority of sentenced individuals who are sent to jails and prisons tend to share similar characteristics. Not surprisingly, these individuals also tend to concentrate in specific communities characterized by marginality and low social capital. Correspondingly, these communities are also considered as less socially and physically healthy, and thus the importance of addressing the health concerns of those individuals who will return from incarceration to their home communities. Accordingly, utilizing established public health methods to connect correctional health with public health resources and community health services is of great importance when aiming to improve health outcomes in the larger community, and thus correctional health services ought to be of great interest to public health practitioners due to the highly vulnerable social and health characteristics of incarcerated individuals, those who are released form correctional institutions, and the communities to which they return to. The presentation will discuss the application of public health to correctional practices while addressing issues of health disparities, health care access in correctional settings, the impact of health care on recidivism, and building community partnerships for better health outcomes.

Author

• Lior Gideon, John Jay College of Criminal Justice