Aging in Correctional Custody
As crime in the United States continues to rise; so are the numbers of aging adults incarcerated in correctional facilities. The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world largely due to tougher more stringent sentencing guidelines. Life sentences have increased as death sentences have decreased thus, creating aging inmates with increasing chronic and severe illnesses. Inmates with disabilities, diabetes, congestive heart failure, dementia and liver failure are the primary costly challenges within our criminal justice system. In western culture geriatric person is considered over the age of 65. In US correctional facilities the aging adult or geriatric adult is considered to be 55. The significance of this is that incarcerated adults are estimated to be 10 to 15 years older physiologically than their chronological age. This can be related to substance abuse prior to imprisonment, stress incurred while imprisoned, inadequate nutrition, and medical care.
Improving the healthcare management of the aging prisoner and to provide proper healthcare we must implement at the beginning of the incarceration process evaluations of their functional ability. Also, screening for dementia or other cognitive impairments or visual or hearing impairments. This will provide prisoners with proper placement within the correctional facility as well as baseline assessment. Annual reassessment and screenings will allow for monitoring of progression of impairments. As care providers we assess on every admission our patient’s ability to perform ADL’s, we assess for safety. Prisoners have the right to timely and appropriate medical care. Part of that care is correctional staff, officers, personnel that interact and observe inmates. Providing training and education to staff on aging conditions like vision/hearing loss, gait instability, incontinence and cognitive impairment can prompt correction staff to seek medical attention for new changes in an inmates’ behavior. There are no specific functional impairment assessment tools for prisoners since they don’t provide for their individual daily needs like shopping, cooking, driving and getting to appointments. Aging inmates’ functional abilities involve getting from one location to another in a timely manner, following instructions from officers and following prison protocols.