School of Population and Public Health (McLeod, Korchinski, Young, Milkovich, Hemingway, Buxton, Janssen, Elwood Martin) and Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education (McLeod, Korchinski, Young, Milkovich, Hemingway, Condello, Fels Buxton, Granger-Brown Ramsden, Elwood Martin), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; First Nations Health Authority (DeGroot), BC; Justice Studies (Condello), Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, Burnaby, BC; Arts Education (Fels), Simon Fraser University; BC Centre for Disease Control (Buxton); Child and Family Research Institute (Janssen), Vancouver, BC; Fielding Graduate University (Granger-Brown), Santa Barbara, Calif.; Department of Academic Family Medicine (Ramsden), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask.; Counselling Psychology Program (Buchanan), Education and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, and Centre for Group Counselling and Trauma (Buchanan), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
School of Population and Public Health (McLeod, Korchinski, Young, Milkovich, Hemingway, Buxton, Janssen, Elwood Martin) and Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education (McLeod, Korchinski, Young, Milkovich, Hemingway, Condello, Fels Buxton, Granger-Brown Ramsden, Elwood Martin), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; First Nations Health Authority (DeGroot), BC; Justice Studies (Condello), Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, Burnaby, BC; Arts Education (Fels), Simon Fraser University; BC Centre for Disease Control (Buxton); Child and Family Research Institute (Janssen), Vancouver, BC; Fielding Graduate University (Granger-Brown), Santa Barbara, Calif.; Department of Academic Family Medicine (Ramsden), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask.; Counselling Psychology Program (Buchanan), Education and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, and Centre for Group Counselling and Trauma (Buchanan), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
CMAJ Open. 2020 Feb 18;8(1):E1-E8. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20190106. Print 2020 Jan-Mar.
During the transition between prison and community, people are at greatly increased risk for adverse health outcomes. This study describes a peer health mentoring program that supports women in the first 3 days after their release from a provincial correctional facility in British Columbia.
We used a participatory health research framework to develop multimethod processes to describe the Unlocking the Gates Peer Health Mentoring Program. Mentors are women with incarceration experience. Between 2013 and 2018, women released from Alouette Correctional Centre for Women were invited to access the program. All program clients were invited to participate in the surveys and interviews. We analyzed survey and interview data using descriptive analysis for quantitative data and content analysis for qualitative data.
There were 346 program contacts from 340 women over the study period. For every contact, a telephone interview was conducted. Among the 346 contacts, 173 women met their mentor, of whom 172 (99.4%) completed the intake and consent forms. A total of 105 women (61.0%) completed a program activity feedback survey at the end of the mentoring period. Women identified a range of needed supports during the transition from prison to community, including access to clothing, social assistance, housing and health care. Participants described a mix of emotions surrounding release, including excitement, anxiety, hope, and a wish for understanding and support. Within 3 days of release, 49 participants (46.7%) had accessed a family physician, and 89 (84.8%) had accessed at least 1 community resource. Ninety-eight participants (93.3%) reported that their mentor assisted them in accessing community resources.
Peer health mentoring provides valuable, multifaceted support in helping women to navigate health and social services and to meet their basic needs. Strengthening health supports during the transition from prison to community is critical to promoting the health and well-being of women leaving prison.
在监狱到社区的过渡期间，人们面临着健康状况恶化的巨大风险。本研究描述了一项同伴健康指导计划，该计划旨在支持不列颠哥伦比亚省惩教设施中女性在获释后的头 3 天。
我们使用参与式健康研究框架来制定多方法流程，以描述“解锁大门同伴健康指导计划”。导师是有监禁经历的女性。在 2013 年至 2018 年间，从 Alouette 女子惩教中心获释的女性被邀请参加该计划。所有计划客户都被邀请参加调查和访谈。我们使用描述性分析对定量数据和内容分析对定性数据进行分析。
在研究期间，有 340 名女性中有 346 次与该计划的联系。每次联系都进行了电话访谈。在 346 次联系中，有 173 名女性与导师见面，其中 172 名（99.4%）完成了入组和同意书。共有 105 名女性（61.0%）在指导期结束时完成了计划活动反馈调查。女性在从监狱过渡到社区的过程中确定了一系列需要的支持，包括获取衣物、社会援助、住房和医疗保健。参与者描述了围绕释放的一系列情绪，包括兴奋、焦虑、希望以及对理解和支持的渴望。在释放后的 3 天内，49 名参与者（46.7%）已经看了家庭医生，89 名参与者（84.8%）至少访问了 1 个社区资源。98 名参与者（93.3%）报告说，他们的导师帮助他们获取社区资源。
同伴健康指导提供了有价值的、多方面的支持，帮助女性了解卫生和社会服务，并满足她们的基本需求。在从监狱过渡到社区期间加强卫生支持对于促进女性出狱后的健康和幸福至关重要。
