title: How health care reform can transform the health of criminal justice-involved individuals.
abstract: Provisions of the Affordable Care Act offer new opportunities to apply a public health and medical perspective to the complex relationship between involvement in the criminal justice system and the existence of fundamental health disparities. Incarceration can cause harm to individual and community health, but prisons and jails also hold enormous potential to play an active and beneficial role in the health care system and, ultimately, to improving health. Traditionally, incarcerated populations have been incorrectly viewed as isolated and self-contained communities with only peripheral importance to the public health at large. This misconception has resulted in missed opportunities to positively affect the health of both the individuals and the imprisoned community as a whole and potentially to mitigate risk behaviors that may contribute to incarceration. Both community and correctional health care professionals can capitalize on these opportunities by working together to advocate for the health of the criminal justice-involved population and their communities. We present a set of recommendations for the improvement of both correctional health care, such as improving systems of external oversight and quality management, and access to community-based care, including establishing strategies for postrelease care and medical record transfers.
authors.forename: Josiah D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.forename: Redonna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: Brie A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dumont
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Faye S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Taxman
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Jennifer G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Greifinger
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wildeman
authors.forename: Fred C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Osher
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haney
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mauer
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Western
mesh_terms: D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000639:trends; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000639:trends*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000639:trends*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000639:trends; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011330:Prisons / Q000639:trends*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000639:trends; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States
keywords: Access To Care; Mental Health/Substance Abuse; Special Populations