Patient navigators effectively support HIV-infected individuals returning to the community from jail settings

• Pages: 213-218
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-08-2016-0037
• Published date: 11 September 2017
• Date: 11 September 2017
• Author: Janet J. Myers,Kimberly A. Koester,Mi-Suk Kang Dufour,Alison O. Jordan,Jacqueline Cruzado-Quinone,Alissa Riker
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

Patient navigators effectively support

HIV-infected individuals returning to

the community from jail settings

Janet J. Myers, Kimberly A. Koester, Mi-Suk Kang Dufour, Alison O. Jordan,

Jacqueline Cruzado-Quinone and Alissa Riker

Abstract

Purpose –Patient navigation is an evidence-based approach for enhancing medical and support service

co-ordination and ensuring linkage to medical care for people living with HIV released from jail. The paper

aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach –This brief describes the benefits of patient navigation and issues to

consider when implementing a navigator program. The authors use process data to describe the type and

amount of navigation services delivered as part of a randomized study, the “The San Francisco Navigator

Project.”

Findings –Navigation programs are able to accommodate a range of service needs; most clients required

multiple types of services, particularly during the first two months after release.

Originality/value –Navigation programs should be prioritized because they provide unique and essential

support for people leaving jail during the particularly vulnerable time immediately after release navigation plays

a crucial role in retaining individuals in care and preventing onward transmission of HIV.

Keywords Correctional health care, HIV/AIDS, Post-release care, Jail health care, Patient navigation,

Transitional care

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Individuals in jail are more likely to be infected with HIV than in the general population because

people living with HIV (PLWH) are more to likely face structural inequalities that risk jail admission.

These conditions include poverty, unstable housing, limited educational attainment and un- or

under-employment (Palar et al., 2015; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009).

Co-occurring health and behavioral health conditions (e.g. substance abuse and mental illness)

further exacerbate social marginality (Harcourt, 2005; Metzl, 2010) as do competing needs

related to survival, such as lack of food and shelter (Teixeira et al., 2015). Because many of these

same individuals face severe challenges to accessing health care, jails are often, in effect,

the health provider of last resort for PLWH (Meyer et al., 2014). For this reason, public health

professionals working in jail settings have a compelling opportunity to engage PLWH in care that,

when supported through transition back to the community, can help them achieve viral load

suppression (Draine et al., 2011; Spaulding et al., 2010).

Jail-basedhealth services treat populations at high riskfor acquiring HIV and those whoare already

infected.Jail intake is a good time to offer people an opportunityto be tested for HIV or re-engaged

in HIV care (Flanigan et al., 2010;deVoux et al., 2012). Jail health services can help those withHIV

infection to become medically stable, and, if needed, to receive treatment for substance use

disorders (Porter and Strauss, 2010). Furthermore, when begun prior to release, discharge and

transitional care planning can play a key role in facilitating linkage and re-engagement with the

health care system after a person is released from jail (Teixeira et al.,2015).

Received 17 August 2016

Revised 24 December 2016

28 March 2017

Accepted 17 May 2017

This research was supported by

the National Institute on Drug

Abuse Grant R01DA027209.

Janet J. Myers is a Professor,

Kimberly A. Koester is an

Academic Specialist and

Mi-Suk Kang Dufour is an

Assistant Professor, all at the

University of California,

San Francisco, California, USA.

Alison O. Jordan is a Senior

Director and Jacqueline

Cruzado-Quinone is a Program

Manager, both at the New York

State Health and Hospitals

Corporation, New York,

New York, USA.

Alissa Riker is the Director of

Programs at the Programs

Division, San Francisco

Sheriff’s Department,

San Francisco, California, USA.

DOI 10.1108/IJPH-08-2016-0037 VOL. 13 NO. 3/4 2017, pp. 213-218, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200

j

INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF PRISONER HEALTH

j

PAG E 21 3