Justice-involved people are often overlooked for population health initiatives as they reside separately from the community during incarceration, and the correctional system infrastructure can be daunting. Successful interventions require collaborative partnerships and innovation. This session’s presenter will describe a National Institutes of Health-funded study conducted with justice-involved people to improve their health and reduce recidivism. This project won the 2020 Frank Bradway Rogers Health Information Advancement Award from the Medical Library Association. The study investigators initiated partnerships with a health literacy expert and a mission-driven technology company in their development of the assessment tool and the educational intervention. Attendees will learn findings and lessons from the study, as well as strategies for addressing policy and practice implications.
Gail Kouame, MILIS
Greenblatt Library, Augusta University
Objectives
- Identify the unique health disparities experienced by justice-involved people and their families and communities.
- Describe how this needs-based health education program advances health equity for justice-involved people.
- Discuss how lessons learned from this study can inform policy to extend the reach of this program, and inform adaptation and replication in other practice settings with other vulnerable populations.