Attending to cardiovascular disease risk factors after incarceration: A study of empowerment and structural barriers to care

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the number of people who are incarcerated in the United States has increased substantially, with the U.S. now holding the largest number of imprisoned people across the globe. This population includes primarily poor Black and Hispanic men, many from urban areas (Brinkley-Rubinstein, 2013; National Research Council, 2014; Prison Policy Initiative, 2022b; The Sentencing Project, 2022). This increase in incarceration rates resulted in part from sentencing policies, including a focus on illegal substances and longer sentences (Brinkley-Rubinstein, 2013;