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This paper seeks to understand relationships between prison healthcare and integrated care systems (ICS), including how these affect the delivery of new healthcare interventions. It also aims to understand how closer integration between prison and ICS could improve cross system working between community and prison healthcare teams, and highlights challenges that exist to integration between prison healthcare and ICS.

The study uses evidence from research on the implementation of a pilot study to establish telemedicine secondary care appointments between prisons and an acute trust in one English region (a cross-system intervention). Qualitative interview data were collected from prison (n = 12) and community (n = 8) healthcare staff related to the experience of implementing a cross-system telemedicine initiative. Thematic analysis was undertaken on interview data, guided by an implementation theory and framework.

The research found four main themes related to the closer integration between prison healthcare and ICS: (1) Recognition of prison health as a priority; (2) Finding a way to reconcile networks and finances between community and prison commissioning; (3) Awareness of prison service influence on NHS healthcare planning and delivery; and (4) Shared investment in prison health can lead to benefits.

This is the first article to provide research evidence to support or challenge the integration of specialist health and justice (H&J) commissioning into local population health.

There has been growing attention given to the concept of social climate as an element of prison practice. Research has indicated that more positive social climates can improve safety, psychological well-being, quality of life and contribute towards reduced reoffending. The purpose of this paper is to consider how the more positive social climates found in democratic therapeutic communities are constructed and how these practices can be replicated in other settings.

This paper adopts a reflective practice approach. The intention is to look back at the concept of social climate in prisons and in particular within a prison-based democratic therapeutic community (DTC); draw upon research and theory in order to critically evaluate the nature and effectiveness of that social climate, and; draw wider lessons about the nurturing and maintenance of social climates that may have broader relevance in prisons.

It is concluded that understanding and managing social climate is an essential aspect of improving the safety and effectiveness of prisons. Developing practices that enhance social climate requires looking beyond mainstream prison practices, towards niches such as specialist units and prisons, including DTCs and other therapeutic communities, and psychologically informed environments, as well as looking at practices in other settings including forensic mental health. Taking this wider perspective can be source of ideas and practice that could inform a profound culture change.

The paper offers an attempt to understand the distinct practices that create a more positive social climate in DTCs and consider how elements of this could be exported to other prisons. This has implications for both penal theory and practice.

Older adults in prison present a significant health and human rights challenge for the criminal justice system. To date, there is no known study that provides a comprehensive examination or portrait of older persons in prison. The purpose of this paper is to understand individual, family, system, and community vulnerabilities that can complicate successful community reintegration for these individuals.

This study provides a cross-sectional, descriptive analysis of biopsychosocial, spiritual, and prison use characteristics associated with a sample of 677 older prisoners, aged 50+, in a state-wide prison system.

Results indicate the extent of diversity within this population based on demographic, clinical, social, legal profiles, prison service use patterns, and professional and personal contacts.

Due to the diversity within this population, an interdisciplinary approach is needed to address the complex social and health care needs of an aging prison population and to plan for their reentry.

These findings suggest the need for holistic prevention, assessment, and interventions to interrupt the social-structural disparities that foster and support pathways to incarceration and recidivism.

The human rights implications for the current treatment of older adults in prison include providing in-prison treatment that promotes safety, well-being, reconciliation, and seamless bridges between prison and community for older adults and their families. The True Grit Program is presented as an example of a humanistic and holistic approach of such an approach.

In the past, health management in Geneva's six post‐trial prisons had been variable and inconsistent. In 2008, the unit of penitentiary medicine of the Geneva University Hospitals was mandated to re‐organize and provide health care at all six prison facilities. The specific aim of this paper is to outline the example as a practical solution to some of the common challenges in unifying the structure and process of health services across multiple small facilities, while meeting European prison health and local quality standards.

Geneva's post‐trial prisons are small and close to one another in geographical proximity – ideal conditions for the construction of a health mobile team (HMT). This multidisciplinary mobile team operated like a community ambulatory care model; it was progressively launched in all prison facilities in Geneva. The authors incorporated an implementation strategy where health providers partnered with prison and community stakeholders in the health delivery model's development and adaption process.

The model's strategic initiatives are described along the following areas, in light of other international prison health activity and prior care models: access to a health care professional, equivalence of care, patient consent, confidentiality, humanitarian interventions, and professional competence and independence.

From the perspective of the HMT members, the authors provide the “lessons learned” through this experience, especially to providers who are working on prison health services reform and coordination improvement. The paper particularly stresses the importance of partnering with community health stakeholders and prison staff, a key component to the approach.

Over nearly six decades in prison, therapeutic communities (TCs) have waxed and waned in California. While there have been dramatic and demonstrable sucess with some of the most intractable populations in California prisons, the TC model has met substantial challenges, both bureaucratic and political. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This is a six-decade review of in-prison TCs in California based both on the research literature and from personal experience over 30 years providing both in-prison and community based TCs in California.

Despite well-documented success reducing the recidivism of violent offenders in California prisons (which is now the bulk of the population), the government has ignored the success of well implemented in-prison TCs, and has implemented a CBT model which has recently been documented to have been ineffective in reducing recidivism. The State is now at a crossroads.

Documented research findings of success do not necessarily result in the implementation of the model.

There is evidence that violent felons are amenable to treatment.

Public concern over the return of violent felons from prison can be ameliorated by the evidence of the effectiveness of TC treatment in prison.

There is no other publication which captures the narrative of the TC in California prisons over six decades.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent of throughcare provision for prisoners with problematic drug use. Effective throughcare services have been recognised as important because they help to ensure that any progress in treatment made in prison is continued on release. Previous research demonstrates that examples of good practice in throughcare provision for prisoners with problematic drug use exist in many parts of the world. However, evidence from recent work carried out in Europe indicates that the implementation of throughcare services for this group of prisoners is limited and ineffective in some EU member states. This paper aims to explore the reasons for such failure and to identify the barriers to implementing effective throughcare for this particular group of prisoners.

This paper is drawn from research carried out as part of a European project funded by the Directorate General Justice of the European Commission. The project involved six partners from a range of different member states. The research involved a literature review, followed by in‐depth interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders. Each partner carried out the qualitative research within their own country, in order to enable the team to capture local nuances.

The findings indicate that key barriers to implementation of effective throughcare are resources which impacts on the availability of support services, attitudes and training of staff and ultimately the continuity of care.

This paper adds to the body of knowledge regarding the provision of effective throughcare to those with problematic drug use.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) people are overrepresented in Australian prisons, where they experience complex health needs. A model of care was designed to respond to the broad needs of the Aboriginal prisoner population within the nine adult prisons across South Australia. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methods and findings of the Model of Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoner Health and Wellbeing for South Australia.

The project used a qualitative mixed-method approach, including a rapid review of relevant literature, stakeholder consultations and key stakeholder workshop. The project was overseen by a Stakeholder Reference Group, which met monthly to ensure that the specific needs of project partners, stakeholders and Aboriginal communities were appropriately incorporated into the planning and management of the project and to facilitate access to relevant information and key informants.

The model of care for Aboriginal prisoner health and wellbeing is designed to be holistic, person-centred and underpinned by the provision of culturally appropriate care. It recognises that Aboriginal prisoners are members of communities both inside and outside of prison. It notes the unique needs of remanded and sentenced prisoners and differing needs by gender.

Supporting the health and wellbeing of Indigenous prison populations can improve health outcomes, community health and reduce recidivism.

Only one other model of care for Aboriginal prisoner health exists in Australia, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation-initiated in-reach model of care in one prison in one jurisdiction. The South Australian model of care presents principles that are applicable across all jurisdictions and provides a framework that could be adapted to support Indigenous peoples in diverse prison settings.

When properly designed and implemented, prison-to-community transition programs targeting older prisoners could potentially save resources, reduce reoffending rates and contribute to improved public protection and safety. However, older prisoners transitioning to community are often neglected and overlooked, and thus, interventions targeted to address their needs are limited. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and enablers to health and social services for older prisoners transitioning to community.

A qualitative study was conducted using focus group discussions with corrections officers, community corrections officers and parole officers (n = 32) in four correctional centres, two community corrections offices (CCOs) and one parole unit in New South Wales (NSW) in 2019. The authors used thematic analysis to analyse the findings.

The study identified three main themes relating to barriers and enablers: organisational, social and economic and individual and family and seven sub-themes: planning the transition, communication, assisting prisoners, transition programs, officers’ knowledge and scope of work, social and economic issues and offenders’ conditions

The processes required to ensure effective prison-to-community transition of older prisoners are not well-developed suggesting the need for more systemic and organised mechanisms. Implications of the barriers and enablers for policy, research and practice are discussed.

This study identified a composite of barriers and enablers to health and social services for older prisoners in NSW prisons and CCOs.

This review integrates and builds linkages among existing theoretical and empirical literature from across disciplines to further broaden our understanding of the relationship between inequality, imprisonment, and health for black men. The review examines the health impact of prisons through an ecological theoretical perspective to understand how factors at multiple levels of the social ecology interact with prisons to potentially contribute to deleterious health effects and the exacerbation of race/ethnic health disparities.

This review finds that there are documented health disparities between inmates and non-inmates, but the casual mechanisms explaining this relationship are not well-understood. Prisons may interact with other societal systems – such as the family (microsystem), education, and healthcare systems (meso/exosystems), and systems of racial oppression (macrosystem) – to influence individual and population health.

The review also finds that research needs to move the discussion of the race effects in health and crime/justice disparities beyond the mere documentation of such differences toward a better understanding of their causes and effects at the level of individuals, communities, and other social ecologies.

Most prisoners are eventually returned to their communities, making their transition into the community and aftercare a fundamental aspect of successful re-entry. This paper aims to explore the stages of someone’s reintegration from pre-release, through to reintegration and desistance and consider the factors relevant to the re-entry process for those who have offended and how to enhance this process. The aim of this paper was twofold; first to highlight the various factors and issues involved in the re-entry and reintegration process, particularly for those who are released after imprisonment and, second, to consider the significance of aftercare services in facilitating this process.

This paper opted for a brief review of the literature regarding incarceration and reintegration and some of the gaps in the literature. This paper will commence with a discussion of the effects of imprisonment on those who are incarcerated, then a consideration of the re-entry process, followed by a discussion of the reintegration process and desistance. Following will be reflections regarding the implications for practice. A case study is used to illustrate these points.

The current paper proposes a framework by which organisations and service providers working with those who are released from prison can use or incorporate into their practice to enhance aftercare support. The case study is used as an example to further illustrate this.

Implications for practice are also considered as well as recommendations to aid the re-entry and aftercare process. Suggestions are also offered to those agencies that are responsible for the provision of aftercare services for those released from prison.

This paper offers some considerations regarding the importance of the preparing and planning for release with a specific focus on aftercare services and their role in the re-entry and reintegration process.