GovState's Vickii Coffey examines health care among incarcerated Americans
Results published in Journal of General Internal Medicine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(University Park, Ill.) - Following a newly published study on the lack of quality healthcare among incarcerated U.S. citizens returning home, Governors State University’s (GovState) Vickii Coffey has a warning.
“Individual and community health care are connected. Our concern for these individuals returning home is the direct link to public health in our community. That means your community, too,’’ said Coffey, Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at the College of Health and Human Services at GovState.
Dr. Coffey served as primary study investigator on Barriers and Facilitators to Quality Healthcare for African Americans with Incarceration Histories which was recently published in the “Journal of General Internal Medicine.”
According to national statistics, there are more than 1.9 million incarcerated individuals in the U.S., and African Americans are 5.9 times more likely to be incarcerated. Dr. Coffey and Diane Morse, MD, senior author on the study and internal medicine physician at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), examine the impact of the lack of quality health care among individuals during and after incarceration and the need to address barriers to access.
Incarcerated African Americans are disproportionately impacted by health conditions such as chronic diseases, mental illnesses, and substance use disorders, as well as reproductive health challenges. Preventive measures, such as cancer screenings, are often overlooked among these populations, increasing potential long-term risk. To address these inequities, investigators conducted four focus groups of African American men and women aged 40 and older released from Illinois State Prisons or Cook County Jail during or after 2015.
Themes of barriers to care included a lack of trustworthiness of health care systems, gaps in overall understanding and knowledge of health conditions and preventive measures, hesitation to get help because of the negative attitudes and actions of correctional staff and/or health care providers, and excessive and punitive co-pays during incarceration. In a recent report from 2015, at least 35 states charged incarcerated persons medical fees in state and county jails for both nurse and provider visits.
“When I share these study findings with colleagues, many are surprised by the number of incarcerated individuals who have to co-pay for medical care, despite earning pennies per hour if they work in prisons,” said Morse, also an associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and associate director of the Office of Health Equity Research at URMC’s Center for Community Health & Prevention.
"The key to successful reintegration into society is gainful employment and earning a living wage serves as a critical means for individuals to turn away from crime and to positively contribute to society. If an individual is too sick to work, the costly weight of their care and well-being shifts to vulnerable families and under-resourced communities that are ill-equipped to address their medical and social survival needs,” said Coffey.
“Addressing barriers and facilitators to quality health care for African Americans with incarceration histories can positively contribute to decreasing inequities in the health and well-being of all communities across the nation.”
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Zion Banks
Director of Communications
Governors State University
630-842-6427