Do Personal Nurse-Initiated Medication Boxes Work in Prison? A Cross-Sectional Study Involving Incarcerated Persons and Prison Officers in a Swiss Prison.

INTRODUCTION: Daily in-hand medication dispensing in prisons and jails is resource intensive, disempowering, and nonconfidential. This research aimed to assess a nurse-initiated, low-frequency medication dispensing system using personal lockable boxes. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a Swiss prison involving 47 box users and 19 custodial officers. FINDINGS: Box users agreed or strongly agreed about the perceived advantages of the box system, including user-friendliness, lower theft risk, and increased dignity, confidentiality, compliance, and autonomy to self-manage medication. Officers, who must accompany nurses during dispensing rounds, concurred that medication boxes were more time-efficient and improved role differentiation between custodial and clinical staff. Patients and officers were overall satisfied with the system and would recommend scaling it up in other facilities. DISCUSSION: This study suggests that medication boxes are feasible, acceptable, easy to use, and secure. Boxes could promote patients' autonomy, protect confidentiality, and allow nurses to dedicate more time to individual visits and health promotion and prevention activities.

[Mind-body relaxation in prison : A beneficial complement for the management of stress and anxiety]. / La relaxation psychocorporelle en prison - Un complément bénéfique pour la gestion du stress et de l'anxiété.

The prison environment can be stressful for imprisoned persons. Prison health services primarily offer medication to help individuals cope with stress and other related symptoms, such as restlessness, anxiety or insomnia. Mind-body relaxation techniques can be complementary or an alternative to medication to manage stress or anxiety. We conducted an exploratory study in a post-trial facility using a mixed method approach drawing on the principles of participatory action research to assess the perceived benefits of a mind-body relaxation intervention led by nurses.

L'environnement carcéral peut être stressant pour les personnes détenues. Les services de santé en prison proposent avant tout des médicaments pour aider les individus à faire face au stress et à des symptômes associés, tels que l'agitation, l'anxiété ou l'insomnie. Les techniques de relaxation psychocorporelles peuvent être complémentaires ou alternatives aux médicaments pour gérer le stress ou l'anxiété. Nous avons conduit une étude exploratoire dans un établissement d'exécution de peines en utilisant une méthode mixte s'inspirant des principes de la recherche-action participative pour évaluer les avantages perçus d'une intervention de relaxation psychocorporelle de groupe conduite par des infirmières.

Access to treatment in prison: an inventory of medication preparation and distribution approaches.

The preparation and distribution of medication in prisons or jails are critical for individuals to access their treatment. This process is resource-intensive for healthcare professionals and may violate principles of confidentiality, autonomy, respect, and dignity if non-qualified staff are involved. However, there are no published best practices on the topic. This report aims to bridge this gap by presenting the results of a mapping exercise on different models of medication preparation and delivery. Authors call upon healthcare professionals to enrich this live document to inform health services research further and improve access to prescribed medications for people experiencing incarceration.

Nurse-led mind-body relaxation intervention in prison: A multiperspective mixed-method evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Mind-body relaxation techniques are complementary or alternative to medication to manage high stress and anxiety levels in prisons. PURPOSE: To assess the motivation to attend and perceived benefits of a nurse-led group relaxation intervention in prison, investigate the experience of participants, prison officers, and health professionals, and identify improvements. METHOD: Exploratory study was conducted in a post-trial facility in Switzerland using a multiperspective convergent parallel mixed method drawing from participatory action research principles. FINDINGS: Reasons for attendance included back problems, mental tension, physical fitness, relaxation, and sleep problems. Perceived benefits comprised autonomy in self-practice, decreased physical tensions and anxiety, and improvement of sleep and physical fitness. Qualitative findings converged highlighting the importance of body-centering, relaxation as an alternative to medication, negative representations about relaxation sessions (useless, effeminate), and recommendations for improvement, including audio-visual support for self-practice. DISCUSSION: Long-standing mind-body relaxation interventions led by nurses in groups may offer participants a beneficial and operationally feasible complement to stress management in prisons.