Dealing with Prison Suicide and Health in Prisons

A friend sent me a couple of notices that I thought you might be interested in. If I was wrong, please keep it to yourself.

One on Suicide Prevention:

New Program Listings in the Best Practices Registry
The Best Practices Registry (BPR) for suicide prevention now has multiple listings in each of its three sections. View fact sheets for all 35 reviewed and classified programs and practices, including items in: Section I, Evidence-Based Programs, consisting of suicide interventions in SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and SPRC/AFSP Evidence-Based Practices Project; Section II, Expert and Consensus Statements; and Section III, Adherence to Standards. For an overview of the BPR, including FAQs and information on how to submit your program for review, visit SPRC’s website.

One on Essentials in Prison Health:

Health In Prisons: A WHO Guide to the Essentials In Prison Health (2007)
A continuing challenge in public health is to get services to the people who need them the most, especially those who are hardest to reach. Yet it is a sad reality of life that, at any one time, a high proportion of those with multiple health problems are incarcerated in the prisons of each country. They are certainly reachable, for a certain period at least. For more than a decade, WHO has had a network of countries of the European region (with more than 30 countries now involved) supported by senior representatives approved at the ministerial level that gather to exchange experiences and evidence on how best to make prisons healthier places for staff as well as prisoners. The detection of serious communicable diseases such as HIV infection and tuberculosis, accompanied by adequate treatment and the introduction of harm reduction measures as necessary, contributes significantly to the health status of the communities from which the prisoners come and to which they return. In addition, it is now known that substance dependence can satisfactorily be treated in prisons. The many imprisoned people who have mental health problems can also be helped.

This guide outlines some of the steps prison systems should take to reduce the public health risks from compulsory detention in often unhealthy situations, to care for prisoners in need and to promote the health of prisoners and prison staff.

Click here to download a copy of Health In Prisons: A WHO Guide to the Essentials in Prison Health (6 MB).
Reposted with permission of the WHO Regional Office for Europe 2007, ISBN 978 92 890 7280 9, www.euro.who.int.