A Yale School of Medicine health clinic received a $1 million grant from The Tow Foundation and The Connecticut Project to provide health care for incarcerated individuals reentering society, particularly those with chronic conditions, according to a university news release.

 

Approximately 80% of incarcerated people have chronic health issues, including hepatitis C, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, mental health and substance use disorders, according to the release. These individuals are mostly Black and Latino and often live in underserved areas with limited access to health care.

 

A study published earlier this year found that in the United States, people with an incarceration history had worse access to and receipt of health care, including physical exams, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol tests, dental checkups and breast and colorectal cancer screenings compared with people who have never been incarcerated.

 

For those with chronic conditions, being released from prison often results in worsening of these conditions due to a lack of cohesion between prison system health care and community health systems, according to Lisa Puglisi, MD, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Transitions Clinic–New Haven (TC-NH), part of a national network of programs prioritizing care for people returning to the community after incarceration.

 

“The Connecticut Department of Correction provides health care for people during incarceration, and we work closely with them to try to coordinate care transitions for people returning to New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford, where we have Transitions Clinics,” Puglisi said in the release. “We serve a fraction of the population returning to Connecticut communities each year. For most people, this transition is fraught with discontinuity with medications, therapy and other care plans.”

 

To close care gaps in the system and ease the transition for people with chronic health issues leaving the prison system, Puglisi and her team at the SEICHE Center for Health and Justice will use the grant to build a central hub called TC-HUB.

 

The peer-led hub will include a nurse care coordinator and previously incarcerated community health workers to help address health-related social needs such as housing, food and employment. The grant will also support training for existing health centers and medical providers on how to best care for this population.

 

“The TC-HUB aligns with our longstanding commitment to helping communities across Connecticut thrive,” said Emily Tow, president of The Tow Foundation. “By addressing the health care gaps faced by people reentering their communities after incarceration, we move closer to a more just and compassionate health care system.”

 

To read more, click #Prison or #Chronic Illness. There, you’ll find headlines such as “Fewer Than Half of U.S. Jails Provide Life-Saving Medications for Opioid Use Disorder,” “People in Prisons Need Access to HIV Prevention and Harm Reduction, Urges UNAIDS” and “Commonwealth Report Highlights U.S. Health Disparities.”