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Continuity of care and access to primary care have been identified as important contributors to improved health outcomes and reduced reincarceration among people who are justice-involved. While the disproportionate burden of health concerns among incarcerated populations is well documented, less is known about their health service utilization, limiting the potential for effective improvements to current policy and practice. This study aims to examine health status and health care utilization among men recently released from a superjail in a large metropolitan area to better understand patterns of use, risk factors and facilitators.

Participants included adult men (n = 106) matched to a general population group (n = 530) in Ontario, Canada, linked to medical records (88.5% linkage) to examine baseline health status and health utilization three-months post-release. The authors compared differences between the groups in baseline health conditions and estimated the risk of emergency department, primary care, inpatient hospitalization and specialist ambulatory care visits.

Superjail participants had a significantly higher prevalence of respiratory conditions, mental illness, substance use and injuries. Substance use was a significant risk factor for all types of visits and emergency department visits were over three times higher among superjail participants.

This empirical case is illustrative of an emerging phenomenon in some regions of the world where emergency departments serve as de facto “walk-in clinics” for those with criminal justice involvement. Strategic approaches to health services are required to meet the complex social and health needs and disparities in access to care experienced by men released from custody.

The study aimed to identify and define core components of Throughcare. The global prison population has reached its highest level to date (11.5 million), with comparative data on recidivism unavailable. Despite the global shift away from punitive and towards rehabilitative approaches, reintegration programming (Throughcare) is limited, ill-resourced or non-existent in many countries.

This study conducted a global e-Delphi consensus study of professionals working in prison and correctional services to define critical components of effective rehabilitation and reintegration programming. Consensus was defined a priori as 70% or more participants scoring an outcome from 7 to 9 and fewer than 15% scoring it 1 to 3.

Following a call for expression of interest circulated to the International Corrections and Prisons Association member list (n = 7282), 175 members agreed to partake in the e-Delphi rounds. In Round One, 130 individuals completed an online survey where 35 statements were scored by importance, each with opportunity to provide written feedback. A total of 33 statements exceeded the set threshold of consensus. Written feedback supported refinement and further development of statements in Round Two. A total of 108 individuals completed Round Two. A total of 39 out of the 40 statements exceeded the set threshold of consensus.

Consensus statements are useful to provide a shared understanding for inter-agency Throughcare partnerships, to inform national prison policies and to expand prison and support staff capacity building and programmes all over the world.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, to date, this is the first known attempt to elicit consensus from a broad range of professionals working in the field of prison and correctional services on core components of effective rehabilitation and reintegration programming.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) goal to end the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 emphasises the importance of leaving no one behind. To determine progress towards the elimination goal in Ghana, an in-depth understanding of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care from the perspective of vulnerable populations such as persons living with HIV in incarceration is necessary. This study aims to explore the experiences of incarcerated individuals living with HIV (ILHIV) and on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in selected Ghanaian prisons to help inform policy.

The study adopted a qualitative approach involving in-depth interviews with 16 purposively selected ILHIV on ART from purposively selected prisons. Interviews were conducted between October and December 2022. Thematic analysis was performed using the ATLAS.Ti software.

Three themes were generated from the analysis: waking up to a positive HIV status; living with HIV a day at a time; and being my brother’s keeper: preventing HIV transmission. All participants underwent HIV screening at the various prisons. ILHIV also had access to ART although those on remand had challenges with refills. Stigma perpetuated by incarcerated individuals against those with HIV existed, and experiences of inadequate nutrition among incarcerated individuals on ART were reported. Opportunities to improve the experiences of the ILHIV are required to improve care and reduce morbidity and mortality.

Through first-hand experiences from ILHIV in prisons, this study provides the perception of incarcerated individuals on HIV care in prisons. The insights gained from this study can contribute to the development of targeted interventions and strategies to improve HIV care and support for incarcerated individuals.

This paper aims to present a case study analysing the reintegration programs of Malaysian violent extremist detainees and prisoners. It explores the ongoing challenges faced by these individuals as they strive to reintegrate and assimilate into society.

Qualitative data was collected through interviews with 12 violent extremist detainees and prisoners who had successfully reintegrated into society. The life course perspective was used as the analytical framework, and data analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti.

The study revealed common challenges faced by the participants in gaining societal acceptance, dealing with stigma and achieving economic stability. The results also highlighted the difficulties of sustaining livelihoods due to heightened vigilance in the surrounding environment.

These findings enhance the understanding of factors influencing successful reintegration of people who were involved in violent extremism into mainstream society.

Government bodies, agencies or organisations and non-governmental organisations can implement these successful factors to prevent any issues of recidivism or resentment towards society.

This research contributes unique insights based on data from individuals who have undergone successful or partial successful reintegration. Detailed academic sharing of such information from a Southeast Asian country such as Malaysia is relatively scarce, given the specific procedures required for accessing such data.

Young offender mentoring programmes aim to support young people’s desistance from offending, but despite the importance, there remains limited exploration into mentor experiences of supporting the young people. This study aims to explore how a community-based mentoring intervention supports desistance in young offenders by understanding the mentor's experiences, with a specific reflective focus on facilitators and barriers to their work.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven mentors from Northumbria Coalition against Crime, a youth and community service. Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, with external auditing conducted by the research supervisor.

Two superordinate themes resulted: “Factors for engagement” and “Personal experiences”, with participant disclosures reflecting professional reward and a sense of success. This was interwoven with “burnout”, emotional investment and challenges linked to barriers to effectiveness. Challenges included the young people having external negative influences, multiple individuals involved in a person’s care and the barrier of in person activities during the coronavirus pandemic. The clinical importance of mentoring programmes, implications for future working practice and research limitations are considered.

The clinical importance of mentoring programmes, implications for future working practice and research limitations are considered.

These findings contribute to understanding mentors’ experiences of working with young people in the community, offering critical insight into the mentorship and wider service dynamics. Furthermore, it provides an inaugural evaluation of the Northumbria Coalition against Crime services.

Stigma is a major impediment to human rights in health care that causes discrimination, isolation and the exclusion of individuals from essential health-care services. It fosters fear, leading to negative stereotyping of individuals based on their social, cultural or health status and undermines their dignity and respect, consequently violating their right to health. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the moderating role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between stigma (enacted, anticipated and internalized), mental health and the quality of life of substance users.

This study was based on a cross-sectional design and included 200 male patients with an age range of 18–65 years from 23 rehabilitation centers in four cities in Pakistan. The purposive sampling technique was used, and the sample size ranged from 4 to 23 participants for each site. Four scales were used to measure stigma, general mental health, quality of life and psychological flexibility in substance users.

The data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS, which showed that stigma (enacted, anticipated and internalized) had a detrimental effect on substance users’ mental health and quality of life. Additionally, psychological flexibility acts as an efficient moderator between them.

This research unveils the moderating role of psychological flexibility in mitigating stigma’s adverse effects on individuals with substance use disorders. Future investigations should prioritize interventions aimed at enhancing psychological flexibility to ameliorate the repercussions of stigma, ultimately enhancing the well-being and quality of life of substance users.

Public health experts and advocates have long raised concerns about the pandemic preparedness of prison systems worldwide – an issue that became increasingly salient at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. People in prison experience poorer health outcomes compared to the general population, making timely access to adequate health services in prison critical for their health and wellbeing. This study aims to identify the extent of the literature on initial changes in mental health and substance use services for people in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic, summarize and synthesize the findings and identify areas in need of further study.

The authors conducted a review of the academic literature published internationally in English between 2019 and December 1, 2020 to describe the disruptions and adaptations to mental health and substance use services in prisons during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors found that mental health and substance use services in prisons around the world were widely disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic – predominantly consisting of the complete suspension of services, discontinuation of transfers to off-site treatment sites and limitations on service capacity. Adaptations ranged from virtual service delivery and changes to treatment dispensation processes to information sessions on overdose prevention.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review to examine the nature and extent of the literature on delivery of mental health and substance use services in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper aims to report on the results of a global search to identify the characteristics of successful sexual offender treatment programs, with a view to providing guidance for program development.

A keyword search was conducted of criminology and social science databases. Successful programs were selected on evaluations that used standard scientific designs.

This study identified 18 evaluations of 16 programs showing significant reductions in reconvictions. Most programs used cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), with both group and individual sessions; and many evidenced multisystemic therapy (MST) approaches involving families and/or local communities. CBT-based approaches were also common in the 20 unsuccessful programs identified in the study, although fewer MST-oriented features were in evidence. Noncustodial settings, and combined custodial-noncustodial settings, were also more prominent in the successful programs.

There is a shortage of studies focused on the specific components of successful treatment programs for sexual offenders, including for subsets of offenders, such as ethnic minority groups and women.

The findings demonstrate the need for more investment in treatment programs with strict evaluation processes. New and modified programs are likely to benefit from the application of CBT, MST and a community-based reintegration component. More research is needed on effective elements of sexual offender treatment programs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this appears to be the first study that examines features of successful sexual offender treatment programs, compared to unsuccessful programs, using a case-study approach. The findings reinforce the known value of CBT and systemic approaches as core features of programs but raise important questions about what other components are key to activating success.