Piloting a new role in mental health ‐ prison based health trainers

Abstract

Prisoners in the UK are in a poor state of health compared to the wider population, often experiencing numerous physical and/or mental health problems. Many prisoners have had little contact with health services, and research suggests that the standard of health care provided in prisons is not equivalent to that provided in the community. This article introduces Care Services Improvement Partnership Health Trainers ‐ an initiative aiming to provide prisoners themselves with the skills to address health inequalities among their peers. Initially, it discusses the origins of these Health Trainers. It then examines prisoners' views on how training as a Health Trainer has influenced their attitudes and behaviour, and outlines possible implications of providing this kind of training to prisoners in terms of them using their knowledge to influence other prisoners' mental health.