Comparing health status, disability, and access to care in older and younger inmates in the New South Wales corrections system

• Date: 10 June 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-04-2018-0017
• Pages: 153-161
• Published date: 10 June 2019
• Author: Courtney Field,Vicki Archer
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

Comparing health status, disability, and

access to care in older and younger

inmates in the New South Wales

corrections system

Courtney Field and Vicki Archer

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to compare the rates of chronic illness, disability and access to care

between older and younger inmates who tookpart in a large epidemiological study in New South Wales, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach –Data are presented from a cross-sectional study based on a sample of

inmates from correctional sites in NSW. The inclusion of results here was guided by the literature with regard

to their relevance to older people, and older inmates in particular.

Findings –Results indicate that a higher proportion of older inmates suffer a range of chronic illnesses, with

prevalence often many times higher than that of younger inmates. Older inmates are more likely to be

classified as disabled and have a disability which impacts their mobility. Older inmates also reported

accessing medical services in prison more recently than younger inmates and were more likely to have seen

both nurses and general practitioners.

Practical implications –Older inmates appear to be considerably more resource intensive than younger

inmates. The increasing proportion of inmates who are classified as olderthus poses a pressing challenge to

those working in the carceral space and, in particular, those responsible for providing healthcare to

incarcerated people.

Originality/value –The impact of aging prisoners on resource demand has yet to be effectively measured.

This study provides an important first step towards that goal.

Keywords Health in prison, Prisoner health, Elderly prisoners, Prison healthcare

Paper type Research paper

Aging and elderly people represent a large and growing segment of Australia’s incarcerated

population (Angus, 2015). In Australia, in 2016, prisoners aged 45 years and older accounted for

20.5 per cent of the country’s incarcerated population (ABS, 2017). In New South Wales (NSW),

the state with the largest incarcerated population and the setting for the findings presented in this

paper, those over the age of 45 accounted for 21.1 per cent of inmates according to the 2014

NSW Inmate Census (Corbin, 2014). Angus notes that the number of inmates in NSW in this age

group tripled between 1982 and 2014. In NSW, the majority of older inmates are housed among

the general prison population. For those requiring rehabilitative care, two dedicated wards are

available and a dedicated palliative and hospice care service is provided in these venues or other

dedicated hospital or clinic areas as required. Nonetheless, the Justice Health and Forensic

Mental Health Network ( JH&FMHN) recognises the growing need to ensure older inmates

continue to be accorded a level of healthcare appropriate to their needs. It is this recognition

which has provided the key motivation for the research presented here.

A number of reasons have been proposed to explain the increasing number of incarcerated older

people both in Australia and overseas. A generally aging population worldwide may account for

this increase but only partially (UNDESAPD, 2015; Psick et al., 2017). As Baidawi et al. (2011)

point out, the rate of growth of older people in prison exceeds the growth of older people in the

Received 19 April 2018

Revised 12 September 2018

Accepted 12 September 2018

Courtney Field and Vicki Archer

are both based at Research

and Evaluation Service, Justice

Health and Forensic Mental

Health Network,

Matraville, Australia.

DOI 10.1108/IJPH-04-2018-0017 VOL. 15 NO. 2 2019, pp. 153-161, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200

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