Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein
Biographic Data
| ID | 4100618 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lauren |
| FAMILY NAME | Brinkley-Rubinstein |
| SIGNATURE | BRINKLEY-RUBINSTEIN L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Duke University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 43 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 28 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 43 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The Impacts of the Sars-CoV-2 Pandemic on Incarceration Dynamics and Racial Disparities in North Carolina Jails
Assessment of Attitudes, Barriers, and Facilitators of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Use Among Individuals Involved in the Criminal Legal System in the Southern U.S.
This qualitative study explores barriers to and facilitators of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among individuals involved in the criminal legal system (CLS) in the Southern U.S. Through in-depth interviews with 72 participants on probation or parole across Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina, we identified five key themes: (1) depersonalization of HIV risk, where participants acknowledged PrEP's value but excluded themselves as candidates;…
Drug use vs. abstinence after incarceration: Associations with competing psychosocial needs and their relevance to the importance of treatment
BACKGROUND: Many people with histories of criminalized drug use resume using drugs after leaving incarceration, yet limited research explores the specific needs and vulnerabilities of these individuals compared to those who remain abstinent. We examined the relationship between post-incarceration drug use and competing psychosocial needs, as well as these needs' association with views regarding substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. AIMS: (1) Co…
“That's not who I am”: An examination of multi-level stigma as a barrier to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among individuals involved in the criminal legal system in the southern US
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective biomedical intervention for preventing HIV, yet uptake remains disproportionately low among individuals involved in the criminal legal system (CLS), particularly those under community supervision in the Southern United States. Multi-level stigma - including self, interpersonal, and structural stigma - has been identified as a significant barrier to PrEP awareness and acceptance. This study dra…
A logic model for alternative response programs to guide public health research and practice
Criminalizing Serious Mental Illness: What Linked Urban Data Reveal and the Case for Community Care
The United States has responded to multiple societal ills, from substance use to homelessness to mental health, with criminalization. A new analysis using City and County of San Francisco data shows jails disproportionately harm people with serious mental illness (SMI). In addition to longer periods of incarceration and higher rates of repeat jail bookings, people with SMI also experience higher rates of homelessness, co-occurring substance use d…
“You feel like you going to die: ” The intersection of mass incarceration and climate disasters
Purpose: Incarceration is increasingly harmful for health due to climate hazards and the lack of policies to protect people who are incarcerated from flooding, hurricanes, and extreme temperatures. Yet, these overlapping crises have received limited attention. We assessed the experience of being incarcerated during hurricanes in Houston, Texas, an area repeatedly impacted by climate events. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 individu…
Staff perspectives on using long-acting antiretroviral treatment among persons being released from carceral settings in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
The prevalence of HIV among individuals who experience incarceration is estimated to be three times higher than that of the general population in the United States. Currently, the standard of care, antiretroviral medications taken daily, is effective in reducing mortality and HIV transmission but individuals experiencing community re-entry face barriers while re-integrating with their community which may make adherence to daily medication challen…
Implementation of Non-Armed First Responder Programs; Optimization by Centering Program Perspectives
Factors such as structural racism and disinvestment in community mental health and social services have resulted in harmful interactions between law enforcement and individuals experiencing mental health crises. These harms are even more prevalent among racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, and individuals with a mental illness. Nationwide, municipalities are exploring ways to ameliorate the harms experienced during these in…
Structural and healthcare predictors of substance use-related death following release from incarceration: A retrospective cohort study in Rhode Island, 2018–2020
Identifying structural risk factors for overdose following incarceration: A concept mapping study
New horizons in criminal legal data: Creating a comprehensive archive
While criminal legal involvement is a structural determinant of health, both administrative and national longitudinal cohort data are collected and made available in a way that prevents a full understanding of this relationship. Administrative data are both collected and overseen by the same entity and are incomplete, delayed, and/or uninterpretable. Cohort data often only ask these questions to the most vulnerable, and do not include all types o…
Perceived versus actual HIV risk among PrEP indicated persons with criminal legal involvement
Individuals involved with community supervision experience multi-level obstacles impacting health outcomes. This is a high-risk period for HIV acquisition due to potential reengagement in unprotected sex and/or unsafe injection drug practices. This study aimed to assess the congruence between actual and perceived HIV risk and the degree to which individual, social, and behavioral factors impact risk perception among individuals on community super…
Experiences Accessing Health and Social Services during and after Natural Disasters among People Who Use Drugs in Houston, Texas
People who use drugs (PWUD) disproportionately experience health-related and social vulnerabilities, which may affect service needs and access during and after natural disasters. We conducted qualitative interviews with N = 18 PWUD recruited via a syringe services program in Houston, Texas. We assessed their health and social service needs, as well as related service access experiences, during and after natural disasters using a combined inductiv…
Framework for opioid use disorder screening and diagnosis in carceral settings
Know the Difference Between Jail and Prison? Both Are Associated With Risk of Death
Mass probation: Temporal and geographic correlation of county-level probation rates & mental health in North Carolina
High community incarceration rates are associated with worse community mental health. However, it remains unknown whether higher rates of probation, a form of criminal legal community supervision, are similarly associated with worse community mental health. Our objective was to evaluate temporal and geographic correlations of county-level probation and mental health rates separately and to assess the association between county-level probation and…
“Nothing but a rope to hang yourself: ” The toll of mass supervision on mental well-being
While incarceration has proven detrimental to mental well-being, it remains unknown if community supervision is better for mental well-being than incarceration. Our objective was to explore the individual- and community-level relationships between community supervision and mental well-being and to examine inequities by race. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with individuals on community supervision (e.g., probation, parole) in North Carolina a…
Death in Prison: Increasing transparency on next of kin notification and disposition of remains
The current state of Carceral health data: An analysis of “Listening Sessions” with stakeholders
Collateral consequences of Covid-19 for people on probation and parole
Context specific HIV risk: Evidence from screening into the southern pre-exposure prophylaxis study (SPECS)
While Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is efficacious in preventing HIV, little is known about PrEP use among those on community supervision. The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS) investigates barriers and facilitators for PrEP initiation and use among adults on community supervision (e.g., probation, parole). Challenges to PrEP use in this setting are abundant. SPECS uses a mixed-methods sequential design, including a multi-site, pr…
Policy and public communication methods among U.S. state prisons during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic
Overlapping Crises: Climate Disaster Susceptibility and Incarceration
Climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent all over the world; however, there is significant variability in the impact of disasters, including which specific communities are the most vulnerable. The objective of this descriptive study was to examine how climate disaster susceptibility is related to the density of incarceration at the county level in the United States. Percent of the population incarcerated in the 2010 census and the Exp…
Incarcerated workers: Overlooked as essential workers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that incarcerated people be prioritized for vaccination primarily due to the risk present in congregate style prison and jail facilities. Furthermore, our review found that many incarcerated people perform labor that should be considered "essential", which provides another reason why they should have been among the first in line for COVID-19 vaccine allocation. These findings also highlig…
The Contribution of Prisons and Jails to US Racial Disparities During Covid-19
The Contribution of Prisons and Jails to US Racial Disparities During COVID-19 Kathryn M. Nowotny PhD, Zinzi Bailey ScD, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein PhD Affiliation Kathryn M. Nowotny is with the Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. Zinzi Bailey is with the Division of Medical Oncology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL. Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein is with the Department of Social Medicine and …
Covid-19 Exposes Need for Progressive Criminal Justice Reform
COVID-19 Exposes Need for Progressive Criminal Justice Reform possible.Immediate action will have a positive impact on slowing the spread of COVID-19 and should become standard practice to alleviate the health harms caused by mass incarceration
Mass Incarceration as a Social-Structural Driver of Health Inequities: A Supplement to AJPH
Documenting and Addressing the Health Impacts of Carceral Systems
Opioid Overdose Deaths Among Formerly Incarcerated Persons and the General Population: North Carolina, 2000‒2018
Objectives. To compare opioid overdose death (OOD) rates among formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs) from 2016 to 2018 with the North Carolina population and with OOD rates from 2000 to 2015. Methods. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 259 861 North Carolina FIPs from 2000 to 2018 linked with North Carolina death records. We used indirectly standardized OOD mortality rates and ratios and present 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. F…
The connection between serious life events, anti-retroviral adherence, and mental health among HIV-positive individuals in the Western Cape, South Africa
South Africa currently has one of the world's largest rates of HIV infection. A majority of the existing research focuses on individual risk behaviors that lead to increased risk of HIV contraction while also acknowledging the importance of the social and contextual determinants of HIV transmission and disease progression. Therefore, the present study aims to understand the ways in which experience of serious life events increases risk of both ad…
Leveraging Identity, Gaining Access: Explorations of Self in Diverse Field-Based Research Settings
Negotiating identity is a salient feature of many researchers’ experiences. In this article, we expand on the current literature in examining how interdisciplinary scholars leverage identity to engage with diverse populations, organizations, and information. Using case studies, findings suggest that it is crucial to share various parts of professional and personal identity, speak the language of participants, reflect on both individual and collec…
The Interdependence of African American Men's Definitions of Manhood and Health
In this article, we explore themes that cut across how 24- to 77-year-old African American men define manhood and health. Utilizing a thematic approach, we analyzed data from 9 focus groups (N = 73). We found that manhood and health were relational constructs that are interrelated in men's minds and experiences. Manhood and health were defined by the characteristics men embody, the behaviors men engage in, and the goals and values men had to posi…
Condom use and incarceration among STI clinic attendees in the Deep South
This study found a strong, independent relationship between condom use and multiple, long-term incarceration events among patients in an urban STI clinic in the Deep South. The results suggest that duration of incarceration and multiple incarcerations have significant effects on sexual risk behaviors, underscoring the deleterious impact of long prison or jail sentences on population health. Our findings also suggest that correctional health care …
Social, structural, behavioral and clinical factors influencing retention in Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) care in Mississippi
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a biomedical intervention that can reduce rates of HIV transmission when taken once daily by HIV-negative individuals. Little is understood about PrEP uptake and retention in care among the populations most heavily impacted by the HIV epidemic, particularly among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in the Deep South. Therefore, this study explored the structural, social, behavioral, and clinical factors that …
Defining the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis care continuum
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective HIV prevention strategy. There is little scientific consensus about how to measure PrEP program implementation progress. We draw on several years of experience in implementing PrEP programs and propose a PrEP continuum of care that includes: (1) identifying individuals at highest risk for contracting HIV, (2) increasing HIV risk awareness among those individuals, (3) enhancing PrEP awareness, (4) fa…
Statewide mental health training for probation officers: Improving knowledge and decreasing stigma
BACKGROUND: The large and growing number of probationers with mental illnesses pose significant challenges to the probationer officers who supervise them. Stigma towards mental illnesses among probation officers is largely unstudied and the effectiveness of training initiatives designed to educate probation officers about mental illness is unknown. To address these gaps in the literature, we report findings from a statewide mental health training…
Institutional distrust among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men as a barrier to accessing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
Populations at highest risk for acquiring HIV are more likely to pass through criminal justice (CJ) settings, and CJ-involved individuals are often at the intersection of multiple overlapping risk factors. The present study explored interest in, knowledge of, and barriers to PrEP uptake among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men involved in the criminal justice system. Using semi-structured interviews, 26 participants who identified…
Making change happen in criminal justice settings: Leveraging implementation science to improve mental health care
Expert stakeholders’ perspectives on a Data-to-Care strategy for improving care among HIV-positive individuals incarcerated in jails
Data-to-Care (D2C) uses surveillance data (e.g., laboratory, Medicaid billing) to identify out-of-care HIV-positive persons to re-link them to care. Most US states are implementing D2C, yet few studies have explored stakeholders' perspectives on D2C, and none have addressed these perspectives in the context of D2C in jail. This article reports findings from qualitative, semi-structured interviews conducted with expert stakeholders regarding their…
Mass Incarceration as a Social-Structural Driver of Health Inequities: A Supplement to AJPH
Covid-19 Exposes Need for Progressive Criminal Justice Reform
COVID-19 Exposes Need for Progressive Criminal Justice Reform possible.Immediate action will have a positive impact on slowing the spread of COVID-19 and should become standard practice to alleviate the health harms caused by mass incarceration
Documenting and Addressing the Health Impacts of Carceral Systems
Optimizing the impact of medications for opioid use disorder at release from prison and jail settings: A microsimulation modeling study
Essential Strategies to Curb Covid-19 Transmission in Prisons and Jails
Essential Strategies to Curb COVID-19 Transmission in Prisons and Jails Alexandria Macmadu MSc, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein PhD Affiliation Alexandria Macmadu is with the Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI. Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein is with the Department of Social Medicine and the Center for Health Equity Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.CopyRightCorrespondence should be se…
The Contribution of Prisons and Jails to US Racial Disparities During Covid-19
The Contribution of Prisons and Jails to US Racial Disparities During COVID-19 Kathryn M. Nowotny PhD, Zinzi Bailey ScD, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein PhD Affiliation Kathryn M. Nowotny is with the Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. Zinzi Bailey is with the Division of Medical Oncology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL. Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein is with the Department of Social Medicine and …
Policy and public communication methods among U.S. state prisons during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic
Overlapping Crises: Climate Disaster Susceptibility and Incarceration
Climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent all over the world; however, there is significant variability in the impact of disasters, including which specific communities are the most vulnerable. The objective of this descriptive study was to examine how climate disaster susceptibility is related to the density of incarceration at the county level in the United States. Percent of the population incarcerated in the 2010 census and the Exp…
Incarcerated workers: Overlooked as essential workers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that incarcerated people be prioritized for vaccination primarily due to the risk present in congregate style prison and jail facilities. Furthermore, our review found that many incarcerated people perform labor that should be considered "essential", which provides another reason why they should have been among the first in line for COVID-19 vaccine allocation. These findings also highlig…
Opioid Overdose Deaths Among Formerly Incarcerated Persons and the General Population: North Carolina, 2000‒2018
Objectives. To compare opioid overdose death (OOD) rates among formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs) from 2016 to 2018 with the North Carolina population and with OOD rates from 2000 to 2015. Methods. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 259 861 North Carolina FIPs from 2000 to 2018 linked with North Carolina death records. We used indirectly standardized OOD mortality rates and ratios and present 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. F…
Paths to Improving Pandemic Preparedness in Jails and Prisons: Perspectives of Incarcerated People and Correctional Staff
Mass probation: Temporal and geographic correlation of county-level probation rates & mental health in North Carolina
High community incarceration rates are associated with worse community mental health. However, it remains unknown whether higher rates of probation, a form of criminal legal community supervision, are similarly associated with worse community mental health. Our objective was to evaluate temporal and geographic correlations of county-level probation and mental health rates separately and to assess the association between county-level probation and…
“Nothing but a rope to hang yourself: ” The toll of mass supervision on mental well-being
While incarceration has proven detrimental to mental well-being, it remains unknown if community supervision is better for mental well-being than incarceration. Our objective was to explore the individual- and community-level relationships between community supervision and mental well-being and to examine inequities by race. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with individuals on community supervision (e.g., probation, parole) in North Carolina a…
Death in Prison: Increasing transparency on next of kin notification and disposition of remains
The current state of Carceral health data: An analysis of “Listening Sessions” with stakeholders
Medicine (31 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (22 works) · Psychology (21 works) · Criminology (16 works) · Public health (15 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (14 works) · Political science (14 works) · Environmental health (13 works) · Psychiatry (13 works) · Sociology (12 works)