Health equity for people living in correctional facilities: Addressing bias, stigma, and dehumanization.

Individuals living in carceral systems oftentimes are not prioritized in ways that ensure that their rights and dignity are protected. Many families and communities have been and continue to be separated and negatively impacted by disparities in judges’ sentencing practices resulting in inequities in treatment and outcomes. As we continue our series on learning the language of health equity, we elucidate health inequities for justices-involved individuals in correctional facilities. This paper contributes to systematically identifying the role of nurse researchers in eliminating health inequities for adults living in correctional health settings to improve health outcomes. It is our determined belief that only through heightening the awareness of nurses on workforce and public biases about people living in prison and their deservedness of compassionate care; advocating for the elimination of stigmatizing and dehumanizing care practices that are regularly levied on them across settings; and including them in health-related research, that we can achieve health equity for this population.