COVID-related disruptions and adaptations to prison-based mental health and substance use services: a narrative review.

Purpose: Public health experts and advocates have long raised concerns about the pandemic preparedness of prison systems worldwide - an issue that became increasingly salient at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. People in prison experience poorer health outcomes compared to the general population, making timely access to adequate health services in prison critical for their health and wellbeing. This study aims to identify the extent of the literature on initial changes in mental health and substance use services for people in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic, summarize and synthesize the findings and identify areas in need of further study.

Intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario's criminal justice and forensic mental health systems: Using data to tell the story.

Background: International studies show that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems; however, it is difficult to capture their involvement across systems in any one jurisdiction.

Aims: The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of IDD across different parts of the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems in Ontario and to describe the demographic and clinical profiles of these individuals relative to their counterparts without IDD.

Methods: This project utilised administrative data to identify and describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of adults with IDD and criminal justice or forensic involvement across four sectors: federal correctional facilities, provincial correctional facilities, forensic inpatient mental health care and community mental health programmes.

Intellectual/developmental disabilities among people incarcerated in federal correctional facilities in Ontario, Canada: Examining prevalence, health and correctional characteristics.

Background: There is little research with people who experience intellectual/developmental disabilities and imprisonment.

Methods: The study linked health and correctional data to examine prevalence of intellectual/developmental disabilities and health and correctional characteristics among adults experiencing their first federal incarceration between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2011 (n = 9278) and two non-incarcerated groups (n = 10,086,802).

Results: The prevalence of intellectual/developmental disabilities was 2.

Filling the GAP: Integrating a gambling addiction program into a shelter setting for people experiencing poverty and homelessness.

The burden of harm from problem gambling weighs heavily on those experiencing poverty and homelessness, yet most problem gambling prevention and treatment services are not designed to address the complex needs and challenges of this population. To redress this service gap, a multi-service agency within a shelter setting in a large urban centre developed and implemented a population-tailored, person-centred, evidence-informed gambling addiction program for its clients. The purpose of this article is to report on qualitative findings from an early evaluation of the program, the first designed to address problem gambling for people experiencing poverty and/or homelessness and delivered within a shelter service agency.

The prevalence and health status of people with developmental disabilities in provincial prisons in Ontario, Canada: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Data on the prevalence of developmental disabilities in people who experience imprisonment and on their characteristics are lacking.

Methods: The present authors identified adults with developmental disabilities who were released from Ontario provincial prisons in 2010 and a general population comparator group using administrative data. The present authors examined demographic characteristics, morbidity and healthcare use.

Refugee maternal and perinatal health in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective population-based study.

Objectives: Immigrants are thought to be healthier than their native-born counterparts, but less is known about the health of refugees or forced migrants. Previous studies often equate refugee status with immigration status or country of birth (COB) and none have compared refugee to non-refugee immigrants from the same COB. Herein, we examined whether: (1) a refugee mother experiences greater odds of adverse maternal and perinatal health outcomes compared with a similar non-refugee mother from the same COB and (2) refugee and non-refugee immigrants differ from Canadian-born mothers for maternal and perinatal outcomes.