Journal of Correctional Health Care
Article Abstracts
Volume 11, Issue
2
·Correctional Facilities as Community Health
Clinical Placement Sites for RN to BSN Students Andrea Kovalesky, RN, CARN,
PhD Correctional health care often remains
invisible to students in professional health programs. In an
effort to inform nursing students about this specialty area, an
RN to BSN program provided an optional quarter-length community
health nursing clinical rotation in a variety of correctional
settings. This paper describes recruitment, orientation, and
retention of students, overall themes of student experiences,
and benefits for the staff and site from such a rotation. A
table of potential student activities is also provided.
·Should Female Federal Inmates Be Screened for
Chlamydial and Gonococcal Infection? Sara
B. Newman, MCP, DrPH; Michael B. Nelson, DO; Heidi B. Friedman,
PhD; Charlotte A. Gaydos,
MS, DrPH The study was implemented to assist the Federal
Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in designing a rational chlamydial and
gonococcal screening protocol for female inmates based on
prevalence of infection. Surveys were administered and urine and
swab specimens collected from study participants. At the prison
where women were screened at entry, 1.2% tested positive for CT
and 0.3% tested positive for GC. At the prison where women were
not screened, 2.3% were positive for CT; no GC cases were
identified. At this site, young age (18-22 years) was the most
important factor associated with infection (RR 6.4), where a
prevalence of 8.5% was found. Prevalence among women age 30 and
younger exceeded 3.5%. Screening women age 30 and younger would
identify more than 60% of cases at an estimated cost of less
than $60,000 per year at this site. It is recommended that women
30 years of age and younger be screened at intake for chlamydial
infection at federal prisons.
·Caring and Custody: Two Faces of the Same
Reality Mary Katharine Maroney, PhD,
RN This report
presents nurses’ perspectives and expectations of correctional
nursing practice and the educational preparation for this
nursing specialty area. Caring and custody as interrelated yet
frequently adversarial concepts in correctional nursing practice
are discussed based upon the qualitative results of
semistructured interviews with 28 nurses employed in selected
New York State correctional facilities. The need to increase the
educational preparation for correctional nursing practice,
provide continuing education, decrease administrative
bureaucracy, increase resources, improve working relationships
with security, and increase respect for correctional nursing was
found.
·Sex and Prisoners: Criminal Justice
Contributions to a Public Health Issue Roberto Hugh Potter, PhD,
CCHP; Richard Tewksbury, PhD Research into sexual behaviors in correctional
institutions has existed in the criminological/criminal justice
literature for more than 60 years, yet little of that literature
appears to be known in the public health discourse on this
topic. The objective of this study was to canvass this
criminological research for a public health audience. The goal
was to integrate criminal justice research into public health to
develop a clearer picture of the current state of empirical
knowledge about sexual behavior in correctional settings. The
study design took a public health approach to assess the extent
of sex in correctional settings through critical review of the
criminological literature. The relationships among sexual
behavior, disease transmission, sexual violence, and
correctional operations issues were explored with an eye toward
hypothesis generation and testing. The conclusion: Partnerships
between public health and criminal justice can better address
issues associated with inmates’ sexual behavior in
correctional settings in both research and operations.
·The Potential Use of Directly Observed Therapy
(DOT) for the Treatment of HIV-positive
Individuals Being Released From Prison Arlene
The; Jennifer A. Mitty, MD, MPH; Helen Loewenthal, MSW; Lauri B.
Bazerman, MS;
Timothy Flanigan, MD HIV-positive
individuals being released from prison can have difficulty with
adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). This
supports the need for programs to improve medication adherence.
This study explored the perceived acceptability of HIV directly
observed therapy (DOT) among 25 HIV-positive individuals with a
history of incarceration. Study subjects were recruited from an
urban, hospital-based HIV clinic and completed an
interviewer-administered questionnaire. Eighty-four percent felt
that DOT would help them in some way and 76% would consider
participating in a DOT program. Potential barriers to DOT
included frequency of visits and meeting place.
·Cost
of Hepatitis C Treatment in the Correctional Setting Joseph Paris, PhD, MD, CCHP; Monica
M. Pradhan, BS, MNS; Scott Allen, MD, CCHP; William M. Cassidy, MD Thirty-four percent of inmates are infected with
hepatitis C. There are significant variables affecting the cost
of disease management. This paper estimates the effects of these
variables and the range of costs. Representative data from
correctional systems with varying hepatitis C management
protocols were assigned to each variable to estimate program
cost. Depending on prevalence, whether or not vaccination is
included, and which biopsy stages are treated, cost of
management of a hypothetical population of 3,000 inmates ranged
widely, from $646,768 to $2,706,740 from diagnosis to completion
of evaluation and/or treatment.
