Prison health service directors’ views on research priorities and organizational issues in conducting research in prison: outcomes of a national deliberative roundtable

• Published date: 12 June 2017
• Date: 12 June 2017
• Pages: 113-123
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-12-2016-0070
• Author: Paul Leslie Simpson,Jill Guthrie,Tony Butler
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

Prison health service directors’views

on research priorities and organizational

issues in conducting research in

prison: outcomes of a national

deliberative roundtable

Paul Leslie Simpson, Jill Guthrie and Tony Butler

Abstract

Purpose –Given that prisoners have significant health needs across most areas, the paucity of prisoner

health research, and the difficulties involved in the conduct of research in this setting, there is a need to

develop research priorities that align with key stakeholder groups. One such group are those responsible for

health service provision in prisons –prison health service directors. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach –Prison health service directors in each Australian state and territory were

invited to participate in a national (deliberative) roundtable where the consensus building nominal group

technique was utilized. This involved the identification of research priorities and organizational issues in

conducting research with prisoners, and ranking research priorities. A thematic analysis was conducted on

organizational issues.

Findings –In total, 13 participants attended the roundtable. Participants identified 28 research priorities and

12 organizational issues. Top ranked research priorities were mental health, cognitive and intellectual

disability, post-release health maintenance, ageing prisoners, chronic health conditions and Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander health. Themes identified from the organizational issues included prisoner access to

research participation, health and research literacy of custodial staff, and institutional protectionism in

response to research that may discover negative information about the custodial setting.

Research limitations/implications –These findings should inform future efforts to improve research

infrastructures to undertake research to improve the health of people in Australian prisons, and help to align

researchers’efforts with those of a key organizational stakeholder.

Originality/value –This is the first paper to determine the research priorities and organizational issues in

conducting research in prisons of prison health service directors.

Keywords Offender health, Prisoners, Qualitative research, Research priorities, Deliberative research,

Nominal group technique

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

International evidence consistently shows that prisoners experience poorer physical and mental

health compared to the general population (Fazel and Baillargeon, 2011). Research findings,

when translated appropriately into policy and practice, are an important step to improving the

health of this marginalized population group (Kouyoumdjian et al., 2016). However, there is a

paucity of research globally on prisoner health due to multiple factors including limited access to

this population, ethical issues that need to be addressed, security protocols governing the prison

environment, and a lack of research funds for this unpopular group compared with other

seemingly more worthy populations (Ahalt et al., 2015).

Received 6 December 2016

Revised 17 February 2017

Accepted 20 February 2017

The study was funded by the

National Health and Medical

Research Council of Australia

under the Australian Centre for

Research Excellence in Offender

Health (Grant No. 1057492).

The funders had no role in the

study design and data collection,

analyses and interpretation,

or reporting.

Paul Leslie Simpson is a

Research Fellow at the

Department of Medicine,

The Kirby Institute, University of

New South Wales, Sydney,

Australia.

Jill Guthrie is a Senior Fellow at

the National Centre for

Epidemiology and Population

Health, Australian National

University, Canberra, Australia.

Tony Butler is the Program

Head at the Justice Health

Research Program, Kirby

Institute, University of New

South Wales, Sydney,

Australia.

DOI 10.1108/IJPH-12-2016-0070 VOL. 13 NO. 2 2017, pp. 113-123, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200

j

INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF PRISONER HEALTH

j

PAG E 11 3