Maintaining and improving the health status of prisoners, as well as providing preventive health care during incarceration, can substantially reduce the economic, social, and health care burden for parolees, their families, and the state. This report examines access to health care for women who are incarcerated in California state prisons, through quantitative and qualitative analysis of a large database of interviews, medical records, legal documents, and judicial reports assembled in conjunction with prisoner’s complaints during the past four years. The report’s recommendations compare the California correctional health care model with "best practice" models for health care delivery to offer an empirical foundation on which to base deliberations on correctional health options.
Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Executive Summary
2. Background to the Study
A. The Health Needs of Women in California Prisons
B. The Contemporary Policy Crisis in Prison Health Care in California
3. Findings
A. Prisoner’s Complaints
B. Prevalence of Health and Health Access Problems
C. Health and Health Care Problems of Prisoners
D. Special Issues
E. Current Department of Corrections Health Care Practice
4. Recommendations
Appendices
1. Glossary of Terms
2. Prisoner Stories: Suffering and Death
A. The Summaries
B. Jane Doe's Testimony
3. Quantitative Analysis Materials
3A1. Characteristics and Quality of the Data from the Legal Files
3A2. Health Access Study Log Sheet
3B1. Frequencies and Percentages of Diagnostic Categories/Complaints:
All Institutions
3B2. Frequencies and Percentages of Diagnostic Categories/Complaints: CIW
3B3. Frequencies and Percentages of Diagnostic Categories/Complaints: CCWF
3B4. Frequencies and Percentages of Diagnostic Categories/Complaints: VSPW
3C1. Frequencies and Percentages of Primary Diagnostic Categories/Complaints:
All Institutions
3C2. Frequencies and Percentages of Primary Diagnostic Categories/Complaints:
CIW
3C3. Frequencies and Percentages of Primary Diagnostic Categories/Complaints:
CCWP
3C4. Frequencies and Percentages of Primary Diagnostic Categories/Complaints:
VSPW
3D. Miscellaneous Treatment Complaints and Access Problems
3E. Operationalization of Key Terms
4. Institution Population Tables
5. State of Florida Correctional Medical Authority's Board Composition
Bibliography
Notes.
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Improving Access to Health Care for California's Women Prisoners
