Ten Urgent Priorities Based on Lessons Learned From More Than a Half Million Known Covid-19 Cases in US Prisons

Bibliographic Data

ID11030203
AuthorsElizabeth S Barnert (0000-0002-1664-4551, University of California, San Francisco), Elizabeth Barnert (Elizabeth Barnert is with the Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles. Ada Kwan and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.), Alistair Kwan (0000-0003-4889-9433, University of California, San Francisco), Ada Kwan (Elizabeth Barnert is with the Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles. Ada Kwan and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.), Brie Williams (0000-0002-5792-3397, Elizabeth Barnert is with the Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles. Ada Kwan and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.)
Year2021
Volume111
Issue6
Pages1099-1105
Publication date2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2021.306221
PMID33856887
OpenAlexW3152586354
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited7

COVID-19 is ravaging US prisons. Prison residents and staff must be prioritized for vaccination, but a rapidly mutating virus and high rates of continued spread require an urgent, coordinated public health response. Based on knowledge accumulated from the pandemic thus far, we have identified 10 pressing public health priorities for responding to COVID-19 in prisons: (1) accelerate population reduction coupled with community reentry support, (2) improve prison ventilation systems, (3) ensure appropriate mask use, (4) limit transfers between facilities, (5) strengthen partnerships between public health departments and prison leadership, (6) introduce or maintain effective occupational health programs, (7) ensure access to advance care planning processes for incarcerated patients and delineation of patient health care rights, (8) strengthen partnerships between prison leadership and incarcerated people, (9) provide emergency mental health support for prison residents and staff, and (10) commit to public accountability and transparency. Dedicated prison leaders cannot accomplish these public health priorities alone. We must mobilize prison leaders, staff, and residents; public health departments; community advocates; and policymakers to work together to address the pandemic’s outsized impact in US prisons

Accountability · Commit · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Environmental health · Health care · Infectious disease (medical specialty) · Mental health · Pandemic · Political science · Population · Prison · Psychiatry · Public health · COVID-19 and healthcare impacts · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Medicine · Nursing

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