Undertaking action research in prison

Older prisoners are the fastest growing group in prisons. They have complex health and social care needs and the coordination of their care is suboptimal. An action learning group including health care staff, prison staff and older prisoners was established at one prison in England. The group developed the Older prisoner Health and Social Care Assessment and Plan (OHSCAP) which is a health and social care assessment and care planning process for the better identification and management of older prisoners’ needs. This paper describes and critically analyses the process of action learning in prison to develop and pilot the OHSCAP. Data were collected through reflective notes from the action learning group facilitator, reflective diary writing from group members, emails, research project steering group meeting notes and interviews with action learning group members. The constant comparison method of data analysis was used. We found that action learning is a valuable approach for developing practice in the challenging prison environment. There are important considerations when using action learning in the prison setting. These include maintaining the groups’ focus; clarifying roles and procedures; providing practical and theoretical space and considering the groups’ composition

Action (physics · Action learning · Action plan · Action research · Cooperative learning · Criminology · Facilitator · Focus group · Health care · Management · Medical education · Pedagogy · Political science · Prison · Public relations · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Health Policy Implementation Science · Medicine · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology

• The “Best of Both Worlds”

  Open Access•Talia R Cohen, Karen Reece et al.•American Journal of Community…•2025

  Añadir item

• Multi-agency action learning

  Open Access•Heather Noga, Alison Foreman et al.•Action Research•2015

  Añadir item

• Involving incarcerated individuals in the research process

  Open Access•Mark E Johnson, Christiane Brems et al.•Action Research•2016

  Añadir item

• Building a Research Partnership in a Prison Context

  Open Access•Dorien Brosens, Liesbeth De Donder et al.•Sociological Research Online•2015

  Añadir item

• Older Adult Inmates

  C Snyder, Katherine Van Wormer et al.•Social Work•2009

  Añadir item

• Engagement enacted

  Open Access•Miranda Snoeren, Miranda MWC Snoeren et al.•Action Research•2011

  Añadir item

• Art and Science in Health Care Research

  Open Access•Dawn Freshwater, Jane Cahill et al.•Qualitative Health Research•2012

  Añadir item