Ageing, Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2019 Aug;31(8):1081-1097. doi: 10.1017/S1041610219000681.
The prisoner population is ageing, and consideration is needed for how to best support those with age-related health conditions in the system. Existing work practices and organizational structures often fail to meet the needs of prisoners with dementia, and prison staff experience high levels of burden because of the increased needs of these prisoners. Little is known about the best method of responding to the needs of this growing subpopulation of prisoners.
A scoping review was conducted to answer the question: what are the perceived best care options for prisoners with dementia? To be included, publications had to be publicly available, reported on research findings, or viewed opinions and commentaries on care practices relevant to older prisoners with dementia. Searches were conducted in 11 databases to identify relevant publications. Data from the included publications were extracted and summarized into themes.
Eight themes were identified that could support better care practices for prisoners with dementia: (1) early and ongoing screening for older prisoners; (2) specialized services; (3) specialized units; (4) programs or activities; (5) adaptations to current contexts; (6) early release or parole for older prisoners with dementia deemed at low risk of reoffending; and (7) training younger prisoners (8) as well as staff to assist older prisoners with dementia. Besides practical strategies improving care practice, costs, prison-specific resources, and staff skills were highlighted as care barriers across all themes. A lack of empirical evidence supported these findings.
One of the implications of the international ageing prison population is the higher number of people living with dementia being incarcerated. Suggestions for best care approaches for prisoners with dementia now need to move from opinion to empirical approaches to guide practice.
囚犯人口老龄化，需要考虑如何最好地支持系统中与年龄相关的健康状况的囚犯。现有的工作实践和组织结构往往无法满足痴呆症囚犯的需求，监狱工作人员因这些囚犯需求增加而承受着巨大的负担。对于如何满足这一不断增长的囚犯亚群体的需求，人们知之甚少。
进行了范围界定审查，以回答以下问题：对于痴呆症囚犯，人们认为最佳的护理选择是什么？要包括在内，出版物必须公开可用，报告研究结果，或关注与老年痴呆症囚犯护理实践相关的意见和评论。在 11 个数据库中进行了搜索以确定相关出版物。从纳入的出版物中提取数据并总结为主题。
确定了八个主题，可以支持更好的痴呆症囚犯护理实践：（1）对老年囚犯进行早期和持续筛查；（2）专门服务；（3）专门单位；（4）计划或活动；（5）对当前背景进行调整；（6）对于被认为再犯罪风险低的老年痴呆症囚犯，提前释放或假释；以及（7）培训年轻囚犯（8）以及协助老年痴呆症囚犯的工作人员。除了改善护理实践的实用策略外，所有主题都强调了成本、监狱特定资源和工作人员技能等护理障碍。缺乏经验证据支持这些发现。
国际老龄化监狱人口的一个影响是，更多患有痴呆症的人被监禁。现在，对于痴呆症囚犯的最佳护理方法的建议需要从意见转移到经验方法，以指导实践。
