A Longitudinal Study of Health Outcomes for People Released from Prison in Fiji: The HIP-Fiji Project
OBJECTIVE:
To
examine the health of prisoners and ex-prisoners in Fiji, including risk
behaviours, service access and HIV status.
METHODS:
Longitudinal
study of 198 men and women recruited prior to release from prison in Fiji,
interviewed in the weeks preceding release, and again 1 and 4 months
post-release. Dried blood spot samples taken at baseline were tested for HIV.
RESULTS:
Eighty
percent of participants completed at least one follow-up interview. The
prevalence of HIV was low (1%), despite evidence of widespread STI and BBV risk
behaviours. A history of risky substance use was normative and more than a
third reported high psychological distress prior to release. Fewer than one in
four reported accessing health care within a month of release from prison.
CONCLUSIONS:
The
health needs of this population are significant but differ in important ways
from those of incarcerated populations in other countries. Further research is
needed to inform evidence-based care for prisoners and ex-prisoners in Pacific
Island nations.
- 1NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, Griffith Criminology Institute & Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, and; Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, and; School of Medicine, University of Queensland and School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia s.kinner@griffith.edu.au.
- 2PhD Candidate and Burnet Fellow, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, and; Centre for Population Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
- 3PhD Candidate, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
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