Abstracts

Given the current United States prison population of 1.5 million persons, many states have begun to examine how to effectively reduce correctional expenditures, considering in 2011 healthcare related prison costs increased to approximately eight billion (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2014). Recent research attributes much of this increase to the prevalence of disease and aging within the prison population (Williams et al., 2012; Dumont et al., 2012; Gallagher, 2001; Ahalt et al., 2013). Alternatively, little attention has been devoted to measuring the disparity in health among minority male inmates or the effects of identifying more cost effective health initiatives that address negative health outcomes. With incarceration and health expenditures rates steadily increasing within the United States, studies have highlighted the positive correlation between incarceration and the costs of inmate health, as well as the implications associated with physical illness and its overarching effects on the performance of correctional health care. This study represents an attempt at bridging the gap between preventative health care and criminal justice efforts within the literature in its examination of the demographics, history of incarceration, chronic illness, and current medical conditions of minority male inmates within the state correctional facilities.