Barriers and enablers to health and social services for older prisoners transitioning to community

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-08-2021-0088
• Published date: 15 December 2021
• Date: 15 December 2021
• Pages: 124-137
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice
• Author: Amanuel Kidane Hagos,Adrienne Withall,Natasha Ann Ginnivan,Phillip Snoyman,Tony Butler

Barriers and enablers to health and

social services for older prisoners

transitioning to community

Amanuel Kidane Hagos, Adrienne Withall, Natasha Ann Ginnivan, Phillip Snoyman and

Tony Butler

Abstract

Purpose –When properly designed and implemented, prison-to-community transition programs

targeting older prisoners could potentially save resources, reduce reoffending rates and contribute to

improved public protection and safety. However, older prisoners transitioning to community are often

neglected and overlooked, and thus, interventions targeted to address their needs are limited. The

purpose of this study was to identify barriers and enablers to health and social services for older

prisonerstransitioning to community.

Design/methodology/approach –A qualitative study was conducted using focus group discussions

with corrections officers,community corrections officers and parole officers(n= 32) in four correctional

centres, two community corrections offices (CCOs) and one parole unit in New South Wales (NSW) in

2019. Theauthors used thematic analysis to analysethe findings.

Findings –The study identified three main themes relating to barriers and enablers: organisational,

social and economic and individual and family and seven sub-themes: planning the transition,

communication, assistingprisoners, transition programs, officers’ knowledge and scopeof work, social

and economicissues and offenders’ conditions

Research limitations/implications –The processes required to ensure effective prison-to-community

transitionof older prisoners are not well-developedsuggesting the needfor more systemic and organised

mechanisms.Implicationsof the barriers and enablers for policy,research and practice are discussed.

Originality/value –This study identified a composite of barriers and enablers to health and social

servicesfor older prisoners in NSW prisons and CCOs.

Keywords Older prisoners, Health and social services, Barriers andenablers, Prison-to-community transition,

Offender health, Housing, Correctional healthcare, Elderly prisoners, Post-releasecare, Qualitative research

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

In almost all countries the numberof older prisoners is increasing. There is no consensus on

the definition of “older” in the prison population and definitions vary from 45 to 65years

(Trotter and Baidawi, 2015). However, the age 50 years and above is most commonly used

to account for the accelerated ageing phenomenon attributed to the 10–15years of age

differential claimed between the health status of prisoners and that of older people in the

general population (Merkt et al.,2020).

In many developed countries, prisoners 50 years of age and above constitute between 12% and

20% of the overall prisoner population (Trotter and Baidawi, 2015), and in the past 15 years,

Australia has seen a 160% increase in the number of its older prisoners (Ginnivan et al.,2018).

Australia has a complex criminal justice system (Royal Commission, 2020). Each state and

territory government has its own laws and agencies, and to that end, the practices vary

Amanuel Kidane Hagos

and Adrienne Withall are

both based at the School of

Population Health,

University of New South

Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Natasha Ann Ginnivan is

based at the Ageing

Futures Institute, University

of New South Wales,

Sydney, Australia. Phillip

Snoyman is based at the

State-wide Services,

Corrective Services New

South Wales, Sydney,

Australia. Tony Butler is

based at the Justice Health

Research Program, School

of Population Health,

University of New South

Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Received 31 August 2021

Revised 27 October 2021

Accepted 4 November 2021

The authors would like to

acknowledge and thank

Corrective Services NSW, and

Community Corrections Offices

and Correctional Centres for

their support and cooperation

in this study.

PAGE 124 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRISONER HEALTH jVOL. 18 NO. 2 2022, pp. 124-137, ©EmeraldPublishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200 DOI 10.1108/IJPH-08-2021-0088