El tratamiento de las personas con problemas de salud mental en la normativa penal y penitenciaria. Reflexiones y propuestas / The treatment of people with mental health problems in criminal and penitentiary regulations. Reflections and proposals

El presente trabajo analiza el tratamiento que la normativa penal y penitenciaria española ofrece a las personas con problemas de salud mental (o con discapacidad psicosocial) que son acusadas de un delito y entran en contacto con el medio penitenciario. El análisis revela que este colectivo es víctima de una discriminación y un maltrato institucional cuya erradicación exige cambios relevantes en la legislación, las políticas públicas y la mentalidad social, a la luz de la Convención Internacional sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad. Estos cambios se orientan a cuatro objetivos básicos: 1) evitar situaciones de desatención que aboquen a las personas con problemas de salud mental a entrar en el ciclo delictivo; 2) potenciar su desviación del medio penitenciario hacia respuestas más resocializadoras; 3) garantizar que quienes entren en prisión puedan ejercer sus derechos en igualdad de condiciones que todas las personas internas; 4) erradicar prejuicios y estereotipos promoviendo la formación de profesionales y la toma de conciencia por parte de la sociedad de la situación de desventaja de este colectivo. (AU)

This paper analyzes the treatment that Spanish penal and penitentiary regulations offer to people with mental health problems (or with psychosocial disabilities) who are accused of a crime and come into contact with the penitentiary environment. The analysis reveals that this group is the victim of discrimination and institutional abuse, whose eradication requires significant changes in legislation, public policies and social mentality, in the light of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. These changes are aimed at four basic objectives: 1) to avoid situations of neglect that lead people with mental health problems to enter the criminal cycle; 2) to enhance their diversion from the prison environment towards more resocializing responses; 3) to ensure that those who have to enter prison can exercise their rights on an equal basis with other inmates; 4) to eradicate prejudices and stereotypes by promoting the training of professionals and raising the awareness of society regarding the situation of disadvantage in this group. (AU)

Enfermeiros no atendimento de urgência em presídios: explorando razões do chamado e local da assistência / Enfermeras en atención de urgencia en cárceles: explorando razones de la llamada y local de la asistencia / Nurses in urgent care in prisons: exploring reasons for the call and place of assistance

RESUMO Objetivo: analisar as percepções dos enfermeiros do Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência (SAMU) em atendimentos realizados em penitenciárias perante as razões das demandas e o local da assistência. Método: trata-se de um estudo exploratório e descritivo de abordagem qualitativa. Realizaram-se entrevistas nos meses de agosto a dezembro de 2017, individuais e audiogravadas, seguindo roteiro semiestruturado com 91 enfermeiros que atuavam no SAMU de cidades do estado da Paraíba, Brasil. Aplicou-se o referencial metodológico da Análise de Conteúdo proposta por Bardin para categorização dos dados obtidos. Resultados: das análises das falas dos participantes emergiu a presença de dificuldades como demandas não pertinentes ao serviço, local inadequado para assistência, falta de privacidade durante os atendimentos e de escolta para transporte quando necessário. Considerações finais: os problemas relatados evidenciam a necessidade do estabelecimento de estratégias para melhorar as condições da assistência potencializando a capacidade de resolutividade do serviço e para problemas que não podem ser resolvidos em uma única visita de profissionais do SAMU no ambiente prisional, que seja garantido a continuidade da assistência em outros serviços articulados a ele e para isso são necessários fortes laços intersetoriais.

RESUMEN Objetivo: analizar las percepciones de los enfermeros del Servicio de Atención Móvil de Urgencia (SAMU) en atenciones realizadas en prisiones ante las razones de las demandas y el lugar de la asistencia. Método: se trata de un estudio exploratorio y descriptivo de enfoque cualitativo. Se realizaron entrevistas en los meses de agosto a diciembre de 2017, individuales y audiograbadas, siguiendo guion semiestructurado con 91 enfermeros que actuaban en el SAMU de ciudades del estado de Paraíba, Brasil. Se aplicó el referencial metodológico del Análisis de Contenido propuesto por Bardin para categorización de los datos obtenidos. Resultados: de los análisis de los relatos de los participantes surgió la presencia de dificultades como demandas no pertinentes al servicio, local inadecuado para asistencia, falta de privacidad durante las atenciones y de escolta para transporte cuando necesario. Consideraciones finales: los problemas relatados evidencian la necesidad de que se establezcan estrategias para mejorar las condiciones de la asistencia, perfeccionando la capacidad de resolución del servicio y para problemas que no pueden ser resueltos en una sola visita de profesionales del SAMU en el ambiente carcelario, que se garantice la continuidad de la asistencia en otros servicios articulados a él y para ello son necesarios fuertes lazos intersectoriales.

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the perceptions of nurses from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) in care provided in penitentiaries regarding the reasons for the calls and the place where care is provided. Method: this is an exploratory and descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Individual and audio-recorded interviews were carried out from August to December 2017 following a semi-structured script with 91 nurses who worked in the SAMU in cities in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. The methodological framework of Content Analysis proposed by Bardin was applied to categorize the data obtained. Results: the presence of difficulties emerged from the analysis of the speeches of the participants. They included calls for reasons not relevant to the service, inadequate place for assistance, lack of privacy during consultations, and lack of escort for transport when necessary. Final considerations: the reported problems highlight the need to establish strategies to improve the conditions of care provision so as to enhance the service's ability to solve problems that cannot be solved in a single visit by SAMU professionals in the prison environment, which guarantees the continuity of assistance in other services articulated to it, making strong intersectoral links necessary.

Pregnancy in incarcerated women: need for national legislation to standardize care.

OBJECTIVES: This review examined prenatal care provided to incarcerated women to identify areas where improvement is needed, and examined current legislative gaps such that they can be addressed to ensure uniform templates of care be instituted at women's prisons. METHODS: Data were compiled from 2000-2021 citations in PubMed and Google Scholar using the keywords: prison AND prenatal care AND pregnancy. RESULTS: Although the right to health care of inmates is protected under the Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution, the literature suggests that prenatal care of incarcerated individuals is variable and would benefit from uniform federal standards. Inconsistency in reporting requirements has created a scarcity of data for this population, making standardization of care difficult. Although incarceration may result in improved access to care that women may not have had in their community, issues of shackling, inadequate prenatal diet, lack of access to comprehensive mental health management, and poor availability of opioid use disorder (OUD) management such as Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) amd Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP), history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are just a few areas that must be focused on in prenatal care. After birth, mother-baby units (MBU) to enhance maternal-fetal bonding also should be a prison standard. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to implementing templates of care specifically directed to this subgroup of women, standardized state and federal legislation are recommended to ensure that uniform standards of prenatal care are enforced and also to encourage the reporting of data regarding pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in correctional facilities.

The impacts of and outcomes from telehealth delivered in prisons: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: While the delivery of healthcare services within prison systems is underpinned by different models, access to timely and optimal healthcare is often constrained by multifaceted factors. Telehealth has been used as an alternative approach to conventional care. To date, much of the focus has been on evaluation of telehealth interventions within certain geographical contexts such as rural and remote communities. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to synthesise the evidence base to date for the impacts of, and outcomes from, telehealth delivered in prisons. METHODS: This systematic review was underpinned by best practice in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews. A systematic search was conducted to reinforce the literature selection process. The modified McMaster Critical Appraisal Tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. A narrative synthesis of the study outcomes was undertaken. RESULTS: Twenty-nine quantitative studies were included. Telehealth interventions were greatly varied in terms of types of healthcare services, implementation process and intervention parameters. Methodological concerns such as rigour in data collection and analysis, and psychometric properties of outcome measures were commonly identified. Process-related outcomes and telehealth outcomes were the two overarching categories identified. CONCLUSION: This systematic review provides mixed evidence on the impact of, and outcomes from, telehealth in prisons. While the evidence base does highlight some positive impacts of telehealth, which at the least, is as effective as conventional care while achieving patient satisfaction, it is also important to consider the local context and drivers that may influence what, when and how telehealth services are provided. Addressing critical factors throughout the lifecycle of telehealth is equally important for successful implementation and sustainability.

COVID-19-The Case for Rethinking Health and Human Rights in Prisons.

This article considers health and human rights implications for people deprived of liberty during the COVID-19 crisis. The health risks of incarceration for individual and community health, particularly in overcrowded and underresourced prisons and detention centers, are well known, but with the COVID-19 pandemic have become a public health emergency.Physical distancing in prisons is hardly manageable, and protective means are poor or lacking. Emergency releases have been shown to be feasible in terms of public safety but lack sustainability in reducing the number of people living in detention, and, globally, only a small proportion of them have been released. Without controlling the infection inside prisons, global efforts to tackle the spread of the disease may fail. People living in detention are not only more vulnerable to infection with COVID-19 but they are also especially vulnerable to human rights violations induced by inappropriate restrictions under the pretext of infection control. Therefore, alternatives for detention should be promoted and the number of incarcerated people radically decreased.This article calls on policymakers and all professionals involved in public health and criminal justice not to waste the opportunities provided by the crisis but to act now.

Establishing an Epidemiologic Profile of Hepatitis C Virus Infection at the Los Angeles County Jail.

OBJECTIVE: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common blood-borne infection in the United States. Although 2% to 3% of the global population is estimated to be infected with HCV, an estimated 18% of the US prison population may be infected. The objective of this study was to establish an epidemiologic profile of HCV infection in the largest urban jail system in the United States. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 20 years of data on demographic characteristics, risk factors, and HCV positivity among 80 681 individuals incarcerated at the Los Angeles County Jail who were tested for HCV infection from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2019. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine predictors of HCV positivity. RESULTS: Of the 80 681 individuals tested, 27 881 (34.6%) had positive test results for HCV infection. In the multivariate analysis, HCV positivity was most strongly associated with injection drug use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 34.9; 95% CI, 24.6-49.5) and being born during 1946-1955 (aOR = 13.0; 95% CI, 11.9-14.2). Men were more likely than women to have HCV infection (aOR = 1.4; 95% CI, 1.3-1.5), and Hispanic (aOR = 4.2; 95% CI, 3.9-4.4) and non-Hispanic White (aOR = 3.8; 95% CI, 3.5-4.0) individuals were more likely than non-Hispanic African American individuals to have HCV infection. Noninjection drug use, homelessness, and mental health issues were also significantly associated with HCV positivity. CONCLUSION: Even in the absence of resources for universal screening for HCV infection, the creation of a risk profile and its implementation into a screening program may be a beneficial first step toward improving HCV surveillance and establishing an accurate estimate of HCV infection in the incarcerated population.

Pandemics in New South Wales prisons: the more things change .

BACKGROUND: The current COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time New South Wales prisons have faced contagion. This paper examines the current responses in New South Wales prisons to the threat of COVID-19 to prisoner health, by contrasting contemporary activities with actions and policy developed during two historical epidemics: the influenza epidemic of 1860 and pandemic of 1919. METHOD: Epidemiological information relating to cases of disease in NSW prisons during the 1860 and 1919 influenza epidemics was obtained from the Comptroller-General's reports for the specific outbreak years and for the preceding and succeeding five-year periods. Additional archival sources such as digitised newspaper reports and articles available through the National Library of Australia were analysed for closer detail. The management of these outbreaks was compared to current strategies to mitigate against risk from the COVID-19 pandemic in the NSW prison system. RESULTS: Interesting similarities were discovered in relation to the management of the historic influenza outbreaks in NSW prisons and in the management of the current COVID-19 pandemic. An outbreak of influenza in mid-1860 impacted seven penal institutions in Sydney and Parramatta. Infection rates at these institutions were between 3.1% and 100%; the mean rate was 41.8%. The public health measures employed at the time included allowing 'air circulation freely night and day', and treatments that were 'tonical and stimulatory'. DISCUSSION: While the past 100 or more years have brought huge progress in scientific knowledge, public health approaches remain the mainstay of outbreak management in prisons; and, as in 1919, the opportunity for Australia to observe the rest of the world and plan for action has not been wasted. Prisons pose a potential risk for pandemic spread but they also present a unique opportunity for reducing disease risk by ironic virtue of the 'separate system' that was recognised even 100 years ago as characteristic of these institutions.

Salud en Penitenciaria: acerca de un Documento Inédito de la Historia de la Salud en Chile, 1853 / Health in Penitentiary: about an Unpublished Document on the History of Health in Chile, 1853

El presente artículo presenta un documento inédito de la historia republicana de Chile donde se muestra el estado de la Penitenciaría de Santiago, principal centro de reclusión nacional en el siglo XIX y que da a conocer la vida y labor de los reos como, asimismo, del quehacer del personal administrativo.

This article presents an unpublished document of the republican history of Chile showing the state of the Penitentiary of Santiago, the main center of national detention in the nineteenth century and that publicizes the life and work of the ins and outs, as well as the work of administrative staff.

The "problem" of health: An analysis of health care provision in Canada's federal prisons.

The United Nations states that prisoners should enjoy the same standards of health care that are available in the community. Despite this, persons in prison experience barriers to care and face unique health challenges. Given the ways in which prisons shape health outcomes for incarcerated persons, it is important to interrogate how the provision of health care is governed in custodial settings. In this article, we examine one important aspect of governance: legislation governing the provision of health care in prisons. We view this issue through a critical lens, building on a body of poststructural scholarship which has illuminated how laws and policies are not merely tools of governance but also key sites for the production of meanings around social "problems," including the "problem of health." Taking Canada's Corrections and Conditional Release Act as a case example and applying Carol Bacchi's "What's the Problem Represented to Be" analytical framework, we examine how the specific representation of "health" in this legislation works to produce effects for persons in federal prison. Three key themes are formed through this analysis. First, what constitutes "essential services" in the context of federal prisons is more limited compared with the broader community. Second, the dichotomy between the rights of persons in prison versus the protection of society that is produced in development of these laws has significant bearing on the treatment of those in prison. Third, this representation has negative effects on the health of persons in prison. In order to meet United Nations standards, greater attention must be paid to the ways in which laws and other governing practices reproduce inequities in health care provision in prisons.

Prison Population Reductions and COVID-19: A Latent Profile Analysis Synthesizing Recent Evidence From the Texas State Prison System.

People in prison are particularly vulnerable to infectious disease due to close living conditions and the lack of protective equipment. As a result, public health professionals and prison administrators seek information to guide best practices and policy recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using latent profile analysis, we sought to characterize Texas prisons on levels of COVID-19 cases and deaths among incarcerated residents, and COVID-19 cases among prison staff. This observational study was a secondary data analysis of publicly available data from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TBDJ) collected from March 1, 2020, until July 24, 2020. This project was completed in collaboration with the COVID Prison Project. We identified relevant profiles from the data: a low-outbreak profile, a high-outbreak profile, and a high-death profile. Additionally, current prison population and level of employee staffing predicted membership in the high-outbreak and high-death profiles when compared with the low-outbreak profile. Housing persons at 85% of prison capacity was associated with lower risk of COVID-19 infection and death. Implementing this 85% standard as an absolute minimum should be prioritized at prisons across the USA.

El control de la infección por SARS-CoV-2 en prisiones / Control of SARS-CoV-2 in prisons

OBJETIVO: Revisar el control y el manejo de la infección por SARS-CoV-2 en instituciones penitenciarias de España y de otros países. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Realizamos una revisión exhaustiva de la literatura en Global Health, SCOPUS, Medline y EMBASE utilizando palabras clave pertinentes y descriptores médicos (DeCS) relacionados con la enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) y prisiones. También se revisaron las recomendaciones o guías de agencias, nacionales e internacionales, y los documentos publicados on-line por algunos países. RESULTADOS: Se presentan los puntos clave de las guías y recomendaciones. La mayoría de estas guías coinciden básicamente en las medidas y procedimientos a utilizar, salvo alguna discrepancia sobre la extensión poblacional de los cribados. Hasta ahora la mayoría de países industrializados, excepto Estados Unidos y algunas situaciones puntuales, han controlado la epidemia en las prisiones moderadamente bien. Hay menos datos sobre lo ocurrido en países socioeconómicamente más desfavorecidos. CONCLUSIONES: Las prisiones suponen un riesgo elevado para la transmisión del SARS-CoV-2 en cuanto son medios cerrados, a veces con malas condiciones ambientales e higiénicas. La guías y recomendaciones para controlar la infección deben ser elaboradas por la administración sanitaria coordinadamente con la administración penitenciaria; deben ser similares a las extrapenitenciarias, aunque adaptadas a las peculiaridades del entorno penitenciario, y deben atenerse a las Reglas Mandela o Reglas Mínimas para el Tratamiento de los Reclusos de las Naciones Unidas

OBJECTIVE: Review of control and management of SARS-CoV-2 infection in penitentiary institutions in Spain and other countries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic review a comprehensive literature search in Global Health, SCOPUS, Medline and EMBASE was performed using relevant keywords and medical descriptors (MeSH) related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and prisons. National and international recommendations and guides were examined as well as documents published by some countries. RESULTS: The key points of the guides are discussed. The vast majority of recommendations coincide with respect to the measures and procedures that should be used, except for some discrepancy regarding the population screening. Until now, most industrialized countries (except the US and some specific scenarios) have controlled successfully the epidemic in prisons. Less data is found as regards to socioeconomically more disadvantaged countries. CONCLUSIONS: Prisons are prone to a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission due to their space limitations and sometimes poor environmental and hygienic conditions. The recommendations of the control and management of SARS-CoV-2 infection must be the same as those outside the prison, but must be adapted to the peculiarities of the prison. The recommendations must be issued by the health administration in coordination with the prison administration. Finally, must be abide by the Mandela Rules or by the Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of United Nations prisoners

[Health care delivery and psychiatric hospitalizations in the prisons of the North of France: An observational study]. / Offre de soins et recours aux hospitalisations psychiatriques en milieu pénitentiaire : une étude observationnelle dans le Nord de la France.

BACKGROUND: In French prisons, psychiatric care for inmates is organized into three levels: ambulatory care within each jail in "unités sanitaires en milieu pénitentiaire" (USMP: sanitary units in correctional settings), day hospitalizations in the 28  services médico-psychologiques régionaux (SMPR, "regional medical-psychological services") and full-time hospitalizations in one of the nine "unités d'hospitalisation spécialement aménagées" (UHSA: specially equipped hospital units). Despite high prevalence of mental disorders among French prisoners, the efficiency of these specialized psychiatric care units has been insufficiently studied. The main goal of this study is to describe full-time psychiatric hospitalizations for inmates in the twenty prisons located in the North of France. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive study based on medical and administrative data and survey results. The following data were collected for each prison regarding 2016: 1) number and occupancy rates for mental health professionals and 2) psychiatric hospitalization rates (in the UHSA of Lille-Seclin and the general psychiatric hospitals). RESULTS: Provision of care is incomplete: the vacancy rate in the health units studied reaches 40 %. Moreover, access to UHSA is unequal: it varies pronouncedly according to the location of the prison; only inmates in prisons close to the UHSA benefit from satisfactory access. CONCLUSION: Access to psychiatric care for inmates remains problematic in France, particularly due to a lack of mental health professionals in USMPs, the overload of patients in UHSAs and the distance of theses facilities from certain prisons and jails.

California's Prisoner Protections for Family and Community Health Act : Implementing a Mandated Condom Access Program in State Prisons, 2015-2016.

In 2014, California passed Assembly Bill 966, which required condom access for persons incarcerated in all 35 California state prisons (33 men's and 2 women's prisons). The California Correctional Health Care Services and the Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch and the Office of AIDS of the California Department of Public Health collaborated in a prison administration-led multidisciplinary implementation workgroup. Our workgroup, representing public health, correctional health, legal and legislative affairs, labor relations, and prison staff members, participated in 4 planning meetings during May-September 2015. We surveyed prison staff members and incarcerated men to identify and address potential challenges; conceptualized a tamper-resistant condom dispenser; developed educational materials, frequently asked questions for staff members, and fact sheets for the public; and conducted forums for custody and medical staff members at each prison. Key lessons learned included the need for high-level custody support, engagement of labor unions early in the decision-making process, and flexibility within defined parameters for sites to determine best practices given their unique institutional population, culture, and physical layout. Condom access was initiated at 4 prisons in July 2015 and expanded incrementally to the remaining 29 men's prisons through July 2016. A total of 243 563 condoms were accessed in the men's prisons, for an average of 354 condoms per 1000 population per month. The start-up dispenser cost was $69 825 (735 dispensers at $95 each). We estimated an annual condom cost of $0.60 per person. Although staff members and incarcerated men expressed concern that this legislation would condone sex and provide repositories for contraband, no serious adverse incidents involving condoms were reported. California demonstrated that condom access is a safe, low-cost intervention with high uptake for a large correctional system and provided a replicable implementation model for other states. Prison condom programs have the potential to decrease transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among incarcerated persons and their communities, which are often disproportionately affected by STIs, HIV, and other chronic diseases.

Coronavírus: visitas virtuais a presos

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Medical Isolation and Solitary Confinement: Balancing Health and Humanity in US Jails and Prisons During COVID-19.

In the face of the continually worsening COVID-19 pandemic, jails and prisons have become the greatest vectors of community transmission and are a point of heightened crisis and fear within the global crisis. Critical public health tools to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 are medical isolation and quarantine, but use of these tools is complicated in prisons and jails where decades of overuse of punitive solitary confinement is the norm. This has resulted in advocates denouncing the use of any form of isolation and attorneys litigating to end its use. It is essential to clarify the critical differences between punitive solitary confinement and the ethical use of medical isolation and quarantine during a pandemic. By doing so, then all those invested in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in prisons can work together to integrate medically sound, humane forms of medical isolation and quarantine that follow community standards of care rather than punitive forms of solitary confinement to manage COVID-19.