Citation

Schilders MR, Ogloff JRP. J. Forensic Psychiatry Psychol. 2014; 25(4): 480-494.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14789949.2014.933862

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The point-of-reception into prison is a critical juncture as it provides early opportunities to identify mental illness and initiate treatment. Although large numbers of mentally ill prisoners are received into prison each day, research investigating mental health screening outcomes at the point-of-reception is limited. This study aimed to address this gap by examining reception screening outcomes for all prisoners received into an Australian prison during 2009 (n = 4229). Overall, 19% of all prisoners were mentally ill, and another 20% had a history of psychiatric illness that required ongoing care. Mentally ill prisoners had a higher risk of suicide or self-harm and required more observation than other prisoners. At reception, no mentally ill prisoners were transferred to the state's forensic hospital and few were transferred to the prison's mental health unit, or provided support service referrals. These findings highlight that outcomes made at the point-of-reception are heavily influenced by the availability of prison mental health resources. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Language: en

Keywords

adult; Australia; human; suicide; female; male; prison; prevalence; risk assessment; self harm; hospital; mass screening; nurse; article; major clinical study; mental disease; controlled study; psychiatrist; priority journal; patient referral; lifespan; prisoner; psychologist; follow up; mental health center; offenders; psychiatric disorder; outcome assessment; mental health screening tools; point of reception mental health screening; prisoner mental health; reception assessment