The sleep justice study - a prospective cohort study assessing sleep as a cardiometabolic risk factor after incarceration: a protocol paper.

BACKGROUND: An estimated 11 million individuals are released from U.S. jails and prisons each year. Individuals with a history of incarceration have higher rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and mortality compared to the general population, especially in the weeks following release from carceral facilities. Healthy sleep, associated with cardiovascular health, is an underexplored factor in the epidemiology of CVD in this population. Incarcerated people may have unique individual, environmental, and institutional policy-level reasons for being sleep deficient. The social and physical environment within carceral facilities and post-release housing may synergistically affect sleep, creating disparities in sleep and cardiovascular health. Since carceral facilities disproportionately house poor and minoritized groups, population-specific risk factors that impact sleep may also contribute to inequities in cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: This study is ancillary to an ongoing prospective cohort recruiting 500 individuals with known cardiovascular risk factors within three months of release from incarceration, the Justice-Involved Individuals Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology (JUSTICE) study. The Sleep Justice study will measure sleep health among participants at baseline and six months using three validated surveys: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the STOP-Bang, and the Brief Index of Sleep Control. In a subsample of 100 individuals, we will assess sleep over the course of one week using wrist actigraphy, a validated objective measure of sleep that collects data on rest-activity patterns, sleep, and ambient light levels. Using this data, we will estimate and compare sleep health and its association with CVD risk factor control in individuals recently released from carceral facilities. DISCUSSION: The incarceration of millions of poor and minoritized groups presents an urgent need to understand how incarceration affects CVD epidemiology. This study will improve our understanding of sleep health among people released from carceral facilities and its potential relationship to CVD risk factor control. Using subjective and objective measures of sleep will allow us to identify unique targets to improve sleep health and mitigate cardiovascular risk in an otherwise understudied population.

"What if that's your last sleep?" A qualitative exploration of the trauma of incarceration and sleep.

Study Background/Objectives: Sleep is an underexplored factor in the health of people involved in the criminal legal system. This study addresses the paucity of research on how individual, social, and physical environmental factors impact sleep health during and after incarceration by highlighting the voices of people involved in the criminal legal system through a community-engaged qualitative research approach. Methods: We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with men recently released from prison for a study on trauma and healthcare during incarceration and after release. Interviews were coded and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and a critical realist framework. Our research team included people with a history of incarceration who performed central roles in the research process. Results: Three themes emerged from participants' descriptions of sleep during and after incarceration: (1) concerns about health contributing to sleep problems, (2) lack of access to treatment for sleep disorders leading to ongoing sleep problems, and (3) issues of safety contributing to sleep problems during incarceration and after release. Conclusions: This study identifies factors and domains influencing sleep during and after incarceration. By identifying which interpersonal, environmental, and structural factors impact sleep quality, medical and carceral staff are better equipped to ameliorate sleep health disparities within populations with a history of incarceration and those actively bound by the criminal legal system. Future research should examine other factors impacting sleep in incarcerated and recently released populations and develop multi-level interventions to improve sleep health. This paper is part of the Sleep and Circadian Health in the Justice System Collection.

Enhancing healthcare accessibility through telehealth for justice impacted individuals.

Telehealth is a great tool that makes accessing healthcare easier for those incarcerated and can help with reentry into the the community. Justice impacted individuals face many hardships including adverse health outcomes which can be mitigated through access to telehealth services and providers. During the federally recognized COVID-19 pandemic the need for accessible healthcare was exacerbated and telehealth use surged. While access to telehealth should be considered a necessity, there are many challenges and barriers for justice impacted individuals to be able to utilize this service. This perspective examines aspects of accessibility, pandemic, policy, digital tools, and ethical and social considerations of telehealth in correctional facilities. Carceral facilities should continue to innovate and invest in telehealth to revolutionize healthcare delivery, and improve health outcomes for justice impacted individuals.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Control Following Release From Carceral Facilities: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Incarceration is a social determinant of cardiovascular health but is rarely addressed in clinical settings or public health prevention efforts. People who have been incarcerated are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) at younger ages and have worse cardiovascular outcomes compared with the general population, even after controlling for traditional risk factors. This study aims to identify incarceration-specific factors that are associated with uncontrolled CVD risk factors to identify potential targets for prevention. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using data from JUSTICE (Justice-Involved Individuals Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology), a prospective cohort study of individuals released from incarceration with CVD risk factors, we examine the unique association between incarceration-specific factors and CVD risk factor control. Participants (N=471), with a mean age of 45.0±10.8 (SD) years, were disproportionately from racially minoritized groups (79%), and poor (91%). Over half (54%) had at least 1 uncontrolled CVD risk factor at baseline. People released from jail, compared with prison, had lower Life's Essential 8 scores for blood pressure and smoking. Release from jail, as compared with prison, was associated with an increased odds of having an uncontrolled CVD risk factor, even after adjusting for age, race and ethnicity, gender, perceived stress, and life adversity score (adjusted odds ratio 1.62 [95% CI, 1.02-2.57]). DISCUSSION: Release from jail is associated with poor CVD risk factor control and requires tailored intervention, which is informative as states design and implement the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services Reentry 1115 waiver, which allows Medicaid to cover services before release from correctional facilities.

Being a Peer Community Health Worker: Restoring Ourselves and the Community.

Women on the Road to Health Transitions combines two evidence-based strategies, WORTH and Transitions Clinic Network into an intervention for women involved in the criminal legal system with substance use and HIV risks. Led by peer community health workers (CHWs), Women on the Road to Health Transitions also links participants to primary care. We describe the impact of the program from the perspective of the CHWs. As integral research team members, the CHWs learned to successfully recruit, retain, and empower participants, facilitate the intervention, administer surveys, and help them link with and navigate the healthcare system. Simultaneously, the CHWs developed professional skills and self-efficacy.

Trauma, Mental Health Distress, and Infectious Disease Prevention Among Women Recently Released From Incarceration.

Background: U.S. women recently released from incarceration experience significantly higher rates of trauma and exacerbation of mental health conditions, and the period following release has been identified as a window of heightened risk for mental health distress and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STI) and hepatitis C (HCV) transmissions. Despite these vulnerabilities, and an urgent need for supports, optimal engagement strategies remain unclear. WORTH Transitions is a program made up of two evidence-based interventions focused on improving the health of women returning to the community from incarceration with substance use disorders. Combining the two was designed to reduce HIV/STIs/HCV risks and increase overall health treatment engagement using a community health worker led intervention. Methods: We examined associations between trauma, mental health symptomology, and HIV/STI/HCV outcomes among women who engaged in the WORTH Transitions intervention (N = 206) Specifically, bivariate and longitudinal multivariate models were created to examine associations between trauma and mental health distress (defined as depressive and PTSD symptoms), on (1) types of engagement in HIV/STIs/HCV prevention and behavioral health services; and (2) HIV/STIs/HCV risk outcomes. The women who engaged in the intervention were 18 years and older and some were White, Black and other racial or ethnic minority. Results: PTSD symptomology and being a Black or indigenous woman of color was significantly (p = 0.014) associated with individual or group session engagement. Neither trauma nor PTSD symptoms were associated with higher HIV/STIs/HCV risks. Instead, relative to those who did not engage in HIV/STI/HCV risky behaviors, PTSD symptomology (p = 0.040) was associated with more than 3-fold increase in the probability of being lost to follow up (relative risk ratio = 3.722). Conclusion: Given the impact of PTSD-related symptoms on driving both engagement in HIV/STIs/HCV prevention services and intervention attrition among women leaving incarceration, physical and behavioral health interventions must be both overtly trauma- and mental health-informed. As was the case with WORTH Transitions, physical and behavioral health services for this population must include intentional and active support of the forms of treatment participants endorse to ensure maximal engagement.

Healthcare-induced trauma in correctional facilities: a qualitative exploration.

BACKGROUND: While incarcerated people are known to experience trauma at higher rates than the general population, little is known about how the correctional health system contributes to trauma rates. METHODS: We conducted 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews with men who were recently released from a correctional system to understand their experiences with healthcare systems and medical staff during incarceration. Using reflexive thematic analysis within a critical realist framework, we coded and analyzed the data iteratively to refine and unify emerging themes. RESULTS: The unanticipated concept of healthcare-induced trauma emerged and was revealed in three overall themes: (1) healthcare leading to fear of serious illness or death, (2) healthcare leading to fear of people, including healthcare providers, correctional staff, and other incarcerated people, and (3) the correctional institutional, social, and physical environment leads to fear of place. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare in correctional settings has the potential to induce trauma, even when the medical conditions addressed are not life-threatening. Future research should examine the factors contributing to the development of healthcare-induced trauma in correctional settings and develop interventions to prevent and address this phenomenon.