218161 Linking formerly incarcerated men to health care: A capacity building intervention at a prisoner re-entry program in East Harlem

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM

Debra Kalmuss, PhD , Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia.University, New York, NY
Bruce Armstrong, DSW , Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia.University, New York, NY
Alison Whitehead, MPH , Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
Gina Gambone, MPH , Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
Jorge Gonzalez, LCSW , Young Men's Clinic, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
Research documents that men's needs for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care are not adequately met in the U.S. Formerly incarcerated men represent a particularly high need group. While their risk for poor health outcomes is high they remain disconnected from key institutional sectors including the health care system. Negative health care experiences in prison may heighten their reluctance to seek care. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a capacity-building intervention to promote men's SRH at Exodus Transitional Community (ETC), a prisoner re-entry program in East Harlem. The intervention was designed to connect men at ETC to a health care home and build sustainable relationships between key staff at referral clinics and ETC through staff training and embedding sexual health care information, promotion messages and referrals into the organization's physical and virtual environments as well as its program content. The evaluation employs a pretest/post-test intervention group-only design. Self-administered pretest questionnaires will be conducted before participants have been exposed to the program beginning in early March of 2010, and telephone post-test interviews will occur three months later. This research will assess effectiveness and feasibility of building the capacity of an employment and social-service based prisoner re-entry program to connect male clients to health care services with a particular focus on SRH. Study findings will be able to directly influence the development of future health interventions aimed at this population.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
1) Describe how a capacity building intervention can help formerly incarcerated men overcome unique barriers to health care with a focus on sexual and reproductive care 2) Describe the challenges to implementing a capacity building sexual and reproductive health promotion intervention for men in non-health related community-based organizations

Keywords: Male Health, Prisoners Health Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was involved in the development and implementation of this project and was the team member who spent the most time in the field with this population.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.