Abstract
The environmental health status of jail populations in the United States constitutes a significant public health threat for prisoners and the general population. The ecology of jails creates a dynamic condition in relation to general population health due to the concentrated potential exposure to infectious diseases, difficult access to treatment for chronic health conditions, interruption in continuity of care for serious behavioral health conditions, as well as on-going issues for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse disorders. This paper reports on elements of a cross-sectional survey embedded in a parent project, “Health Disparities in Jail Populations.” The overall project includes a comprehensive secondary data analysis of the health status of county jail populations, along with primary data collection that includes a cross-sectional health and health care services survey of incarcerated individuals, coupled with collection of biological samples to investigate infectious disease characteristics of a county jail population. This paper reports on the primary results of the survey data collection that indicate that this is a population with complex and interacting co-morbidities, as well as significant health disparities compared to the general population.
Highlights
Jail populations in the United States experience significant public health threats that have serious implications for the broader community
Consultation with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) council identified the county jail system as a significant public health priority that would benefit from an assessment utilizing a population health and cultural ecological framework in conjunction with policy development relating to the overall impact of the jail system on various aspects of the county healthcare delivery system
In line with our hypothesis relating to the need to identify key clusters of conditions, the top centrality measures indicate the overall number of connections between chronic health conditions infectious disease, and behavioral health
Summary
Jail populations in the United States experience significant public health threats that have serious implications for the broader community. The social and physical environment of jails creates a dynamic condition in relation to general population health due to the concentrated, often short term and repeated exposure to: (1) infectious diseases; (2) difficulty of access to treatment for chronic health conditions; (3) interruption in continuity of care for serious behavioral health conditions; as well as (4) on-going issues for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse disorders. While the impact of single conditions, such as HIV transmission, heart conditions, or severe mental illnesses (SMI) is critical for developing public health interventions and policies for jail systems, the multiplex impact of the convergence of multiple pandemics in jail systems is very poorly documented. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 2500; doi:10.3390/ijerph15112500 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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