A patient navigation intervention for drug-involved former prison inmates.
Subst Abus
; 36(1): 34-41, 2015.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24960435
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Former prison inmates experience high rates of hospitalizations and death during the transition from prison to the community, particularly from drug-related causes and early after release. The authors designed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of patient navigation to reduce barriers to health care and hospitalizations for former prison inmates.METHODS:
Forty former prison inmates with a history of drug involvement were recruited and randomized within 15 days after prison release. Participants were randomized to receive 3 months of patient navigation (PN) with facilitated enrollment into an indigent care discount program (intervention) or facilitated enrollment into an indigent care discount program alone (control). Structured interviews were conducted at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Outcomes were measured as a change in self-reported barriers to care and as the rate of health service use per 100 person-days.RESULTS:
The mean number of reported barriers to care was reduced at 3 and 6 months in both groups. At 6 months, the rate of emergency department/urgent care visits per 100 person-days since baseline was 1.1 among intervention participants and 0.5 among control participants (P = .04), whereas the rate of hospitalizations per 100 person-days was 0.2 in intervention participants and 0.6 in control participants (P = .04).CONCLUSIONS:
Recruitment of former inmates into an RCT of patient navigation was highly feasible, but follow-up was limited by rearrests. Results suggest a significantly lower rate of hospitalizations among navigation participants, although the rate of emergency department/urgent care visits was not improved. Patient navigation is a promising, pragmatic intervention that may be effective at reducing high-cost health care utilization in former prison inmates.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Prisioneiros
/
Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias
/
Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
/
Vida Independente
/
Navegação de Pacientes
/
Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde
/
Hospitalização
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Subst Abus
Assunto da revista:
TRANSTORNOS RELACIONADOS COM SUBSTANCIAS
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos