Evaluation of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in a prison population: a mixed-methods approach.

Background: Prisons are high-risk settings for the transmission of communicable disease. Robust surveillance systems are required to identify and control outbreaks. Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 was introduced in four prisons in Wales in March 2022.

A 3-year review of deaths in people under community justice supervision in Wales: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Despite little fluctuation in the numbers of people under community justice supervision in England and Wales, the number of deaths in this population has more than doubled between 2013-14 and 2020-21, from 560 to 1343 deaths. Contributing factors and causes of mortality are somewhat unknown. The aim of this study was to understand the number and the leading causes of people dying while under community justice supervision in Wales, UK, between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2021.

Exploring substance misuse in a prison in Wales: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Since 2015, the risks of dying due to drug-related causes are higher in prison than in the general population, with opiates and psychoactive substances being the most common substances recorded on death certificates in prison. Many individuals use drugs before entering the prison environment, it is not clear which individuals continue to use drugs while in prison. This study is a first step towards identifying characteristics of those who use drugs in prison, while exploring substances commonly used.

Evaluating the impact of a prison smoking ban on the cardiovascular health of men in a UK prison.

Purpose: Smoking rates are known to be higher amongst those committed to prison than the general population. Those in prison suffer from high rates of comorbidities that are likely to increase their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), making it more difficult to manage. In 2016, a tobacco ban began to be implemented across prisons in England and Wales, UK.

Estimating the burden of type 2 diabetes in the UK prison environment for the next decade.

Although limited, global evidence suggests that the cardiometabolic health of those in prison is poorer than their community peers. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a public health challenge and community rates are continuing to rise. Given that cardiometabolic risk factors are prevalent amongst younger individuals within the prison population, it is reasonable to assume that the prison environment will also experience an increase in new cases of T2DM.

Abundance of undiagnosed cardiometabolic risk within the population of a long-stay prison in the UK.

Background: The health of people in prisons is a public health issue. It is well known that those in prison experience poorer health outcomes than those in the general community. One such example is the burden of non-communicable diseases, more specifically cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke and type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

"A journey towards acceptance": The process of adapting to life with HIV in Greece. A Qualitative study.

Unlabelled: Aim To identify the experiences related to adaptation for people living with HIV in Greece and to explore different adaptation stages as well as their individual reactions.

Background: Receiving an HIV positive diagnosis leads to major changes in an individual's life and it can trigger an array of emotions including fear, despair and loss of control. As the profile of the disease has changed due to its transition into a chronic disease and extended life expectancy, adaptation to life and coping with uncertain events is of paramount importance.

Prevalence of HCV in prisons in Wales, UK and the impact of moving to opt-out HCV testing.

Background: Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of death worldwide. The World Health Organisation introduced a target to reduce hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a public health threat by 2030. Testing and treatment of those at elevated risk of infection in prison is key to achieving disease elimination.

Exploring health and wellbeing in prison: a peer research approach.

Purpose: Those in prison have expert knowledge of issues affecting their health and wellbeing. The purpose of this paper is to report on work undertaken with male prisoners. This paper presents learning and findings from the process of engaging imprisoned men as peer researchers.

Hepatitis B vaccine coverage in short and long stay prisons in Wales, UK 2013-2017 and the impact of the global vaccine shortage.

Data on hepatitis B vaccination coverage across prisons in Wales 2013-2017 were analysed to describe coverage of one dose, and the full hepatitis B vaccine course for men in prison. Whilst vaccination coverage increased in both short and long stay prisons, annual coverage was consistently lower in short stay prisons compared to long-stay prisons, despite short-stay prisons delivering a higher numbers of vaccine doses. The exception of this pattern was in 2017, at a time of global vaccine shortage.

Exploring HIV infection in a UK vulnerable prisoner population in response to newly identified cases.

Purpose: Prison populations are considered at elevated risk of blood borne virus (BBV) transmission. Between December 2015 and February 2016, four new cases of HIV infection were diagnosed across two male vulnerable prisoner (VP) custodial units in Wales, UK. Cases were identified through routine BBV testing.

Investigating the prevalence of latent Tuberculosis infection in a UK remand prison.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health issue and in low-incidence countries guidance identifies the need to screen for and treat latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) with the prison environment recommended as a setting to perform LTBI screening. This study describes the findings of a LTBI screening programme which took place on entry to a remand prison in the UK.

Methods: Testing for LTBI was undertaken alongside screening for blood borne viruses in 567 men.

A stepped wedge cluster randomized control trial of dried blood spot testing to improve the uptake of hepatitis C antibody testing within UK prisons.

Background: The prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) is elevated within prison populations, yet diagnosis in prisons remains low. Dried blood spot testing (DBST) is a simple procedure for the detection of HCV antibodies; its impact on testing in the prison context is unknown.

Methods: We carried out a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized control trial of DBST for HCV among prisoners within five male prisons and one female prison.

Raising public awareness of hepatitis B and C through a testing road show.

Over the past decade, as the profile of hepatitis B and C has been raised, a range of nurse-led services has been developed among substance misuse services, prisons and homeless services to reach those at the highest risk of infection. In the UK, it is estimated that up to two-thirds of people with hepatitis C are unaware of their infection (Cornberg et al, 2011). These patients represent those at the highest risk of developing cirrhosis and liver cancer, and many are unlikely to be in contact with services that offer routine testing.

A Roy model study of adapting to being HIV positive.

Roy's adaptation model outlines a generic process of adaptation useful to nurses in any situation where a patient is facing change. To advance nursing practice, nursing theories and frameworks must be constantly tested and developed through research. This article describes how the results of a qualitative grounded theory study have been used to test components of the Roy adaptation model.

Developing blood borne virus services across prisons in Wales, UK.

Purpose: This paper aims to describe the strategies being put in place to develop blood borne virus (BBV) services across prisons in Wales, UK, in response to the recommendations for prisons within the Welsh Government's Blood Borne Viral Hepatitis Action Plan for Wales.

Design/methodology/approach: A task and finish group was established to ensure multidisciplinary engagement between healthcare and custody staff. A service improvement package was developed focusing on awareness raising and/or development of clinical services for prisoners, prison officers and prison healthcare staff.

Negotiating uncertainty: the transitional process of adapting to life with HIV.

Glaser's (1978) grounded-theory method was used to investigate the transitional process of adapting to life with HIV. Semistructured interviews took place with 8 male HIV-infected participants recruited from a clinic in South Wales, United Kingdom. Data analysis used open, substantive, and theoretical coding.

Prisoner health: assessing a nurse-led hepatitis C testing clinic.

Prisons provide an ideal setting in which to carry out blood-borne virus testing among a high-risk population. This paper describes a nurse-led testing programme offered to all prisoners within the substance misuse unit at a local prison in South Wales over a 4-year period. Challenges to organizing such a clinic within the prison setting are discussed.

Review of Roy adaptation model-based qualitative research.

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of qualitative research in the development of the Roy adaptation model. An exploration of the findings from qualitative research using Roy's adaptation model from 1995 to 2005 is compared with the findings and recommendations from a previous review over a 25-year period (1970-1995). The usefulness of qualitative methods in furthering nursing theory is highlighted.