Guest Editor Comments: Corrections, Health Care, and Public Health

Abstract

Just more than a quarter century ago, health care and corrections were two terms rarely heard in the same context. Yet, around that time, disease information specialist (DIS) workers in public health were discovering that many of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) clients they dealt with were either in lockup or had incarceration histories. About a decade ago, the medical profession discovered correctional health care as a venue driven, in many ways, by litigation and the number of HIV/AIDS patients found in jails and prisons. Correctional health care has become an expanding specialty in the medical and public health fields. This can be seen in the number of articles devoted to aspects of health care inCorrections Today and the number of people attending American Correctional Health Services Association (ACHSA), National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) conferences and American Correctional Association (ACA) conference health care tracks. Similar articles can be found in the American Journal of Public Health, and there are developing special interest groups within the American Public Health Association (APHA) at its conferences. Even today, however, the health care and public health opportunities correctional settings provide do not rate much of a mention in corrections and criminal justice educational programs. Among corrections professions, health care is more often approached as a budgetary and logistical nightmare than an opportunity to provide an additional benefit to the communities served by its institutions and programs. It is my hope that through this special issue, we will open a few new eyes to the critical role corrections can play in improving community health. Rather than viewing health care as an additional burden, perhaps the authors can provide some direction toward new partnerships and expanding the community role of corrections. Several of the articles deal with the “public health surveillance” aspect of corrections and health. Broussard, Leichliter, Evans, Kee, Vallury, and McFarlane provide evidence that screening for particular STDs in juvenile