Prisoners have high rates of mental illness and the transition from prison to the community is a problematic time for the provision of mental health services and a range of negative outcomes have been identified in this period. A systematic review was conducted to identify interventions for prisoners with diagnosed mental health conditions that targeted this transition period. Fourteen papers from 13 research studies were included. The interventions identified in this review were targeted at different stages of release from prison and their content differed, ranging from Medicaid enrolment schemes to assertive community treatment. It was found that insurance coverage, and contact with mental health and other services can be improved by interventions in this period but the impact on reoffending and reincarceration is complex and interventions may lead to increased return to prison. There is a developing evidence base that suggests targeting this period can improve contact with community mental health and other health services but further high quality evidence with comparable outcomes is needed to provide more definitive conclusions. The impact of programmes on return to prison should be evaluated further to establish the effect of interventions on clinical outcomes and to clarify the role of interventions on reincarceration.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10488-018-0848-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Exposure to traumatic events and the experience of burnout, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among prison mental health staff: an exploratory survey. Issues in Mental Health Nursing.

Continuity of care for prisoners with severe mental illness can be improved by working with them to identify their needs prior to release, and by assisting them to engage effectively to the necessary agencies in the community.

Purpose. This study examined the characteristics of men in prison who have a history of both self-harm and violence (known as dual harm) and the extent to which demographic and criminogenic factors, in-prison incidents, and self-harm method could differentiate men who dual harm.Methods. Official prison sample data were examined for the period April 2010 to November 2017 (n = 965). Regression analysis of all custodial incidents, demographic and offending information, and imprisonment experience, was undertaken.Results. Self-harm was associated with violence in prison, representing a 3.5-fold risk of violence compared with men who did not self-harm, after controlling for time in prison, age, and index offence. 60% of men who harmed themselves also engaged in custodial violence, while 32% who were violent also had a self-harm event. After controlling for age at first incident, 11% of the sample had custodial history of dual harm and they accounted for 56% of all recorded custodial incidents. They had a high probability of property damage and fire setting in prison and spent 40% longer in custody. Men who dual harmed used a greater variety of self-harm methods, with increased use of lethal methods. Conclusion.Dual harm is prevalent, particularly among those who harm themselves in prison. Men who dual harm contribute excessively to the overall incident burden in prison and demonstrate behavioural variability and risk regarding both violence and self-harm. The findings challenge the usual distinctive management responses or that self-harm or violence is solely the responsibility of health or justice, with greater integration required.Rates of self-harm, suicidal behaviours, and violence have generally been rising in prisons within most jurisdictions (Ministry of Justice (MoJ), 2019a, 2019b; Correctional Services Canada (CSC), 2017). In England and Wales, 13.6% of the prison population are thought to engage in acts of self-harm each year, with an overall population self-harm incident rate of 667 per 1,000 prisoners (MoJ, 2019a). At the same time, there are also high rates of custodial violence, which has a comparative population incident rate of 411 per 1,000 prisoners (MoJ, 2019b). However, despite high levels of both self-harm and violence, no jurisdictions currently report on the coexistence of these behaviours as a matter ofThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.