Pros And Cons Of Health In Prison

As incarceration rates rise, health-related outcomes do as well. From 1970 to 2014, the U.S. prison population has risen 700% (Vera Institute of Justice) and by 2001, one in three Black men are sent to prison during their lifetime (Bonczar 5). Before disregarding prison health, it is important to first consider the implications on all of society. If we took better care of our prisoners, the entire U.S. population would be healthier. According to epidemiological studies conducted by the Population Studies Center, if the rate of U.S. incarceration in 1973 remained the same, there would be a 7.8% reduction in infant mortality by 2003 (Wildeman 2). 50% of all prisoners suffer from diagnosable mental illnesses (James and Glaze 1). Some of the most

this? Is it because quality inmate health care is vital to public health? Who decided what type of

The Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Department is tasked with providing health care services to all incarcerated prisoners within a jail system which at present exceeds 18,500 inmates. Correctional Treatment Center (CTC) provides care and treatment for inmates requiring inpatient medical and or psychiatric care in this 196-bed rated medical unit located in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. The inmate population is in poor health, largely due to the lifestyle choices of the inmates which often include substance abuse, violence, and living on the streets of Los Angeles. They require the same basic medical care that all residents of Los Angeles County require, including routine illness to advanced medical issues such as tuberculosis (TB), AIDS/HIV+, heart disease, diabetes, dialysis, paraplegics, and acute mental health problems. Additionally, problems associated with aging are becoming common as the jail population increasingly includes older inmates. In the wake of chronic overcrowding in the county lockups, the Sheriff 's Department has been struggling to provide adequate care for thousands of inmates, many of whom have never been treated, with illnesses ranging from tuberculosis to AIDS to schizophrenia. Reported rates of tuberculosis in jails and prisons are more than six times higher than those for the general population. Jails and prisons concentrate individuals at high risk for TB or noncompliance with therapy, including those who are

Linder and Frederick J. Meyers. This article starts with a story about an inmate who found out he had cancer while incarcerated. Then, it goes on to incorporate his story throughout the article in interview form to provide inside information on the treatment of prisoners. Most inmates come in with addictions and substance abuse, no access to health care, homelessness, and untreated mental illnesses (Linder and Meyers 895). They blame this on the lack of medical health that’s available to the general population. According to Linder and Meyers, “Inmates and the free-living populations share 6 of the 10 leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease, influenza/pneumonia, and septicemia”. With the remaining four for inmates being liver disease, AIDS, self-harm and digestion

would still need a consent from their treating doctor and a record of inmate’s medical history. Inmates who aren’t being treated well in prison would be transferred to hospitals for proper treatment (Reed and Lyne, 2000).

Each day, men, women and children are put behind bars suffer from lack of access to medical health care. Chronic illnesses go untreated, emergencies are ignored, and patients with serious illnesses fail to receive needed care. A small failure to medical care can turn in to death of an inmate if left untreated. Prisoners are humans whether inmates or not, with normal health issues or diseases. Even a common cold is an example of an illness that needs treatment. A lot with what is wrong with the health care system today, in the United States deals with money. Within prisons, it is an entire different story. The mission of medical care is to diagnose, comfort and cure. These goals are not being achieved within the prison system. Care needs to be given to every inmate, even the most despised and violent one among them all.

In both Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and “My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard” by Shane Bauer, there is a large amount of evidence to prove that prisoners aren’t treated well in state and private prisons. And that those prisoners are abused by the prisons staff. If given the chance, I believe both Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Bauer would reform prisons greatly by, making staff treat prisoners humanely, giving better medical support, and taking care of abusive staff. Some, if not all, prisons treat their inmates like they are less then animals and go to the point that they don’t care of an inmate dies. It’s easy to get sick in prison, and most sicknesses can be treated fairly easily, but certain prisons barely give any medical attention to inmates.

Although elderly inmates are receiving health care while they are institutionalized, they are not always receiving the proper health care that is needed. The overwhelming increase in the elderly prison population has caused challenges to health care administrators. According to Kuhlmann and Ruddel (2005), not only do elderly inmates have common illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, dementia or other diseases that one undergoes as they age, elderly inmates are also affected by transmissible diseases due to overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, or unprotected sex. Health officials also have a problem treating elderly patients who are at the top of the list for being attacked by other inmates. Even if an elderly inmate is healthy when processed into the prison system, the stressors contribute to the declines in physical functioning ensuing in amplified health care. Kuhlmann and Ruddel (2005), states the only way that elderly inmates can receive proper health care is if public health practitioners and jail administrators launch an improved long-term

Students often relate school to prison; lack of freedom, small food servings, and a lot of discipline. Even though this “all-in-fun” comparison tends to be made a lot, students know that gaining an education through school is essential to success in the future. It is also known that spending a day in school is ten times better than spending a day in prison. However, although schools seem like they should be superior to prisons, the number of prisons in the United States significantly outnumbers the amount of colleges, and these prison systems are constantly changing. As time goes on, non-smoking prisons are becoming more common, leaving an impact on all inmates, workers, and community members.

Healthcare is a big topic no matter how you view it, but when looking at it from the point of a person who is in prison, it takes on a whole new view. Those who are in prison have federal and state laws that say that the prisons must provide them with medical facilities for their healthcare needs. This paper will identify a governmental agency that regulates the healthcare that is provided to prisoners in an institution within the United States, along with the foundation of such an agency and who regulates the licenses, accreditation, certifications, and authorization for employment for those who work within one of these

There are many healthcare disparities through out a variety of populations in the United States. People face difficulties and disparities getting quality health care for many different reasons such as race, gender, sexual orientation, cultural beliefs and various other reasons. One population that has numerous health care issues and disparities is the incarcerated population. This population stood out to me because there is a mixture of all kinds of people (races, genders, age, etc.) living in close and often overcrowded spaces. This is a complex problem because not only is there a lot of diversity but also jails were not meant to accommodate everybody’s medical specific issues. If someone were to commit a minor crime and has an untreated health issue while in jail it could be very serious or even become a death sentence.

There are approximately 1,600,000 million inmates are behind bars in America (Glazer, 2014, para. 11) . Without a doubt, much of state prisons are overcrowded, which can lead to, very dangerous situations and environments. Due to the overwhelming number of inmates incarcerated it is difficult to deal with medical and mental health problems in prison. If most inmates complain about not feeling well or have symptoms, medical condition or disease that is not immediately, they would get some form of medication and get turned life back without seeing a doctor for a proper medical exam. A clear majority of the health care professional that work in the prison systems are very under qualified to work in such dangerous and trauma environments like prisons

Dominique Robert’s (2008) theoretical framework in the article “Prison and/as Public Health. Prison and Inmates as Vectors of Health in the New Public Health Era. The Case of Canadian Penitentiaries” focuses on structural elements that explain the use of correctional health care in the prison setting today and how this plays a role in the broader public health strategies in the outside community. He does this by explaining factors such as “the mobilisation of prison as a tool for the new public health” and "the production of inmates into healthcare ‘consumers’, along with the role of actuarial justice.”

The severely mentally ill, under the 1983 Mental Health Act, have the right to transferred to a secure psychiatric care (Mills, 2007). The facilities that the government provides to deal with the mentally ill often have long waiting lists so even if an inmate qualifies, as deserving additional support, they often have to wait in prison until there is an opening, claims Christopher Zoukis an author of multiple books relating to the prison system as well as founder of PrisonEduation.com (Zoukis, 2017). Many prisoners with metal illness are in for minor defensives and there is simply nowhere else for them, leaving innocent, mentally ill in prison for an average of eight to nine months, waiting for transfer, according to Laura Sullivan a NPR investigator

Thesis: While school and prison seem to be polar opposites, they have many major similarities but only a few minuscule differences making it hard to differentiate between them First, the doors lock; they cut off free movement. Then there are the cameras keeping a sharp eye out of any suspicious behavior. The most dangerous part is the innumerable uniformed guards that prowl the halls looking for those attempting to escape.