Older Inmates Health: Issues, Trends, and Healthcare Planning

This presentation addresses the critical healthcare challenges faced by older inmates in the United States. It begins by highlighting the growing segment of the prison population constituted by older individuals and the prevalence of chronic health conditions among them, emphasizing the need for effective healthcare facilities. The presentation explores the factors driving the increasing number of older prisoners, including long sentences, mandatory minimums, and life sentences. It also identifies key issues in managing older prisoners, such as overcrowding, lack of efficient healthcare providers, and insufficient government funding. The presentation references supporting literature to emphasize the severity of the issues and the need for comprehensive healthcare planning, providing a foundational understanding of the topic. The presentation will cover the issues and potential issues by providing literature support, the reasons behind the increasing numbers of older prisoners, and finally, the issues in trends and issues in crime and criminal justice.

Health care for older inmates

What is the chief issue with older
inmates in America?
older inmates are the fastest
growing segment amongst the
prison population in USA
approximately 2.3 million
prisoners of the nation are getting
older (Millemann, Bowman-Rivas
and Smith 2017)
A good number of inmates are
found to suffering from chronic
health conditions.
effective healthcare facilities
needs to be provide in order to
deal with the issues
 Lack of efficient heath care
facilities and number of healthcare
service providers is a major issue
in American prisons

Why are the numbers of older
prisoners increasing ?
The chief reason behind the
increasing number of older includes
ultra long sentences of the nation’s
law.
Three polices responsible are the
mandatory minimum sentences, the
elimination of federal parole and the
strikes law
Another reason behind increment in
the number of inmates who are
serving life sentences has got
increased in USA in a dramatic way
(Blowers and Blevins 2015).
The third reason behind increase in
the number of older inmates includes
increment in rearrest as well as
those who use drugs and have
already spent some time behind bars

issues in the management of older
prisoners
Lack of effective polices is
resulting in persistent
overcrowding in jail
There are a couple of
relevant policies, but they
have not sufficiently achieved
this objective (Nowotny et al.
2016)
The second issue faced by
the management of prisons
in America is lack of efficient
health care service providers.
The third issue includes lack
of funding from the
government.

timeframe on which health services
plan should be implemented
task Individual responsible Time frame
1. Educating younger inmates about
the importance of providing
healthcare services to the older
inmates
Prison managers, younger inmates 2-3 months
1. Recruiting healthcare professional
for provision of training to the
younger inmates
Prison managers, younger inmates 1-2 months
1. Recruiting younger inmates for
older population
Prison managers, younger inmates
Prison managers, younger inmates
2-3 months
1. developing a monitoring team for
assessing the performance of the
younger inmates on a regular basis
Prison managers, younger inmates 2-3 months

Reference List
Blowers, A.N. and Blevins, K.R., 2015. An
examination of prison misconduct among older
inmates. Journal of Crime and Justice, 38(1), pp.96-
112.
Millemann, M., Bowman-Rivas, R. and Smith, E.,
2017. Releasing older prisoners. Reforming criminal
justice: A report of the Academy for Justice, 4,
pp.325-339.
Nowotny, K.M., Cepeda, A., James-Hawkins, L. and
Boardman, J.D., 2016. Growing old behind bars:
Health profiles of the older male inmate population
in the United States. Journal of aging and
health, 28(6), pp.935-956.