Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, New South Wales.
The Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, University of Technology Sydney, New South Wales.
Aust N Z J Public Health. 2019 Jun;43(3):241-247. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12892. Epub 2019 Apr 17.
To describe the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of Aboriginal mothers in prison.
Cross-sectional survey, including a Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (5-item version) administered to Aboriginal women who self-identified as mothers.
Seventy-seven Aboriginal mothers in New South Wales (NSW) and 84 in Western Australia (WA) participated in the study. Eighty-three per cent (n=59) of mothers in NSW were in prison for drug-related offences, 64.8% (n=46) of mothers in WA were in prison for offences committed under the influence of alcohol. Sixty-eight per cent (n=52) of mothers in NSW and 35% (n=28) of mothers in WA reported mental health problems. Physical (PCS) and Mental (MCS) component scores of SF-12 varied for mothers in NSW and WA. Mothers in NSW experienced poorer health and functioning than mothers in WA (NSW: PCS 49.5, MCS 40.6; WA: PCS 54.4, MCS 48.3) and high levels of psychological distress (NSW: 13.1; WA 10.1).
Aboriginal mothers in prison have significant health needs associated with physical and mental health, and psychological distress. Implications for public health: Adoption of social and emotional wellbeing as an explanatory framework for culturally secure healthcare in prison is essential to improving health outcomes of Aboriginal mothers in prison in Australia.
描述监狱中土著母亲的社会、情感和身体健康状况。
横断面调查，包括对自我认同为母亲的土著妇女进行的简短健康调查（SF-12）和凯斯勒心理困扰量表（5 项版）。
新南威尔士州（NSW）有 77 名土著母亲和西澳大利亚州（WA）有 84 名母亲参加了这项研究。NSW 有 83%（n=59）的母亲因与毒品有关的罪行入狱，WA 有 64.8%（n=46）的母亲因在酒精影响下犯罪入狱。NSW 有 68%（n=52）的母亲和 WA 有 35%（n=28）的母亲报告存在心理健康问题。SF-12 的身体（PCS）和精神（MCS）分量表分数因 NSW 和 WA 的母亲而异。NSW 的母亲比 WA 的母亲（NSW：PCS 49.5，MCS 40.6；WA：PCS 54.4，MCS 48.3）经历了更差的健康和功能，并且心理困扰程度更高（NSW：13.1；WA 10.1）。
监狱中的土著母亲有与身心健康和心理困扰相关的重大健康需求。对公共卫生的影响：采用社会和情感福祉作为监狱中文化安全医疗保健的解释框架，对于改善澳大利亚监狱中土著母亲的健康结果至关重要。
