Trends in addiction treatment in Irish prisons using national surveillance data, 2009–2014

• Published date: 10 June 2019
• Pages: 105-113
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-02-2018-0006
• Date: 10 June 2019
• Author: Aoife Cannon,Fiona Nally,Anne Collins,Ronnie Fay,Suzi Lyons
• Subject Matter: Health & social care

Trends in addiction treatment in Irish

prisons using national surveillance data,

2009–2014

Aoife Cannon, Fiona Nally, Anne Collins, Ronnie Fay and Suzi Lyons

Abstract

Purpose –Many studies show that incarcerated populations have higher rates of problem drug use than the

general population. The purpose of this paper is to analyse trends in addiction treatment demand in prisons in

Ireland from 2009 to 2014 using available national surveillance data in order to identify any implications for

practice and policy.

Design/methodology/approach –National surveillance data on treatment episodes for problem drug and

alcohol use from 2009 to 2014, collected annually by the National Drug Treatment Reporting System

(NDTRS), were analysed.

Findings –In total, 6 per cent of all treatment episodes recorded by the NDTRS between 2009 and 2014

were from prison services. The number of prison service treatment episodes increased from 964 in 2009 to

1,063 in 2014. Opiates were the main reason for treatment, followed by alcohol, cocaine and cannabis.

The majority (94–98 per cent) of treatment episodes involved males (median age of 29 years) and low

educational attainment, with 79.5–85.1 per cent leaving school before completion of second level.

The percentage of treatment episodes with a history of ever injecting drugs increased from 20.9 per cent in

2009 to 31.0 per cent in 2014.

Practical implications –This study can help policy development and service planning in addiction

treatment in prison as it provides an insight into the potential needs of incarcerated populations. It also

provides a baseline from which to measure any changes in provision of treatment in prison over time.

Originality/value –This is the first study to analyse treatment episodes in prison using routine surveillance

data in Ireland. Analysis of these data can provide useful information, not currently available elsewhere.

Keywords Health in prison, Prison, Injecting drug use, Prisoners, Drug dependence, Drug abuse

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Many studies have shown that incarcerated populations have a higher rate of problem drug and

alcohol use, compared to the general population (Boys et al., 2002; Dolan et al., 2007;

Lukasiewicz et al., 2007; EMCDDA, 2012a; Kissell et al., 2014; Fazel et al., 2017). In the

European Union, approximately half of the prison population have used illicit drugs in their lifetime

(Zurhold et al., 2005). This poses a challenge to prison services to provide addiction treatment

options and care for this population within the confines of the prison system and also on release

to the community. Therefore, prison treatment services are a very important source of data for

gaining a better understanding of the trends in problem drug and alcohol use, and for informing

service design and delivery.

In addition to problem drug and alcohol use among incarcerated po pulations, other

characteristics of prisoners need to be considered when planning and providing treatment.

Typically, high rates of unemployment, low level of education and poor health are observed

among prisoners in Ireland (Barry et al., 2010). A 2003 report by Morgan and Kett presented data

showing that 52.8 per cent of the prison population have a low level of literacy. This is particularly

Received 8 February 2018

Revised 11 April 2018

25 June 2018

30 July 2018

Accepted 6 August 2018

Declaration of conflict of interest:

the authors of this paper have no

conflict of interest to declare. This

paper or a similar version has not

been published elsewhere and it is

not currently under review by

another journal. No commercial

relationship exists in the form of a

financial support or personal

financial interest. The authors

disclose that there are no financial

or personal relationships with other

people or organisations that could

inappropriately influence this work.

The authors would like to

acknowledge all the services that

provide the annual data to the

NDTRS and the NDTRS team,

because without their hard work

this study would not be possible.

Aoife Cannon was based at

National Health Information

Systems, Health Research

Board, Dublin, Ireland.

Fiona Nally was based at Pavee

Point Traveller and Roma

Centre, Dublin, Ireland.

Anne Collins is based at Irish

Prison Service, Midlands

Prison, Portlaoise, Ireland.

Ronnie Fay is based at Pavee

Point Traveller and Roma

Centre, Dublin, Ireland.

Suzi Lyons is based at National

Health Information Systems,

Health Research Board,

Dublin, Ireland.

DOI 10.1108/IJPH-02-2018-0006 VOL. 15 NO. 2 2019, pp. 105-113, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200

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