Oral

Providing good health care to patients who are incarcerated or recently released from a correctional facility is a challenge faced by health professionals throughout the world. This session will focus on several aspects of that challenge. –The prevalence of serious mental illness in many of our nation’s communities is a major problem. For some individuals, their illness is so severe that they have been ordered to inpatient mental health care by a criminal court. However, if they are an immigrant they may instead be among the over 350,000 individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We will hear from one group that was able to secure, with great difficulty, release of detainees into inpatient care in the community, and hear their recommendations to improve patient care and unburden ICE of caring for patients that the criminal justice system has already deemed unfit for incarceration. –We will also hear about New York City’s challenges of providing care to recently released maximum security inmates. The presenters examined the relationships and interaction between public health and public safety, as well as between socioeconomic and racial disparities in medical care utilization. This raises the possibility of incorporating healthcare as an integral component of justice administration and crime prevention. –Patients with mental illness have high levels of medical co-morbidities and dramatically shorter life span than those without mental illness. In jail settings, accessing medical care may be more difficult for patients in any specialized housing areas, including those jails with mental health units. We will hear about an innovative program to incorporate medical case management into mental health housing areas, and the benefits that derive from coordinating the medical and mental health care of patients. –Antipsychotic medications are commonly used to manage psychosis, particularly in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In general the administration of antipsychotics is recommended for the treatment of diseases encompassed in processes of serious mental illness (SMI). We will hear how patients in need of these types of medications are identified and treated in a prison in Spain.

Session Objectives: 1. Evaluate the practice and consequences of diverting patients away from court ordered mental health treatment into immigration detention 2. Describe health challenges faced by prisoners returning to the community 3. Explain the challenges of providing health care in a correctional setting to mentally ill patients.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)