Opioid agonist treatment uptake within provincial correctional facilities in British Columbia, Canada.

Background And Aims: Multiple interventions and policy changes related to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) have been introduced in British Columbia, Canada to increase engagement and retention in OAT. We aimed to estimate the impact of policy changes and the announcement of the opioid overdose-related public health emergency on the use of OAT for incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder.

Design: Interrupted time-series analysis.

Mentally ill individuals in limbo: obstacles and opportunities for providing psychiatric services to corrections inmates with mental illness.

For more than two millennia, prison reformers and inmate advocates have lamented the ethical and humanitarian injustices experienced by persons with mental illness in correctional settings; yet, we continue to see mentally ill individuals stuck in limbo between health care and custody. Using a case study that exemplifies the challenges that can prevent the provision of efficient mental health care in correctional settings, we identify the gaps and failures in service delivery, and provide specific strategies for streamlining inmates' access to psychiatric assessment and treatment. As a backdrop, we present a brief overview of the reasons why correctional centres experience difficulties in ensuring expedient care (e.