Soros Advocacy Fellowship for Physicians Guidelines | Grantee List | Case Studies
San Francisco, CA
2002
Fellowship Partnering Organization: Centerforce
Home Institution: University of California, San Francisco
The United States incarcerates more of its population per capita than any other country in the world. Prisoners are disproportionately from lower socioeconomic groups with higher amounts of acute and chronic disease. Lack of continuity of care has been identified by consumers, providers, and policy planners as a major source of lost opportunity to address issues of public health concern as well as a cause of increased morbidity, mortality, and cost. Little has been done to understand and address the lack of continuity of health care between the community and prison and jail. The goal of the project was to identify and address barriers to continuity of medical care for persons in the criminal justice system.
Fellowship Successes
- Taught inmates at various California prisons as part of the Centerforce programs on health promotion and prevention;
- Talked to over 40 medical providers working in prisons or jails in California;
- Identified key components of the lack of continuity of care for current and former inmates through field observation and key informant interviews;
- Planned and implemented an October 2003 summit allowing providers from the community and jails and prisons to meet, discuss common communication issues, and identify potential solutions;
- Expanded a Prison Health Elective for the UCSF Medical, Nursing and Pharmacy students in Winter 2004. Twenty-five students attended 10 sessions lead by prison, jail, and community providers/activists;
- Presented at the National Commission on Correctional Health Care Conference on models for delivery and continuity of medical therapy, May 2004.
- Made formal presentations on the topics of Incarceration Health Care, Barriers to Continuity of Care in Jails and Prisons, and Physician Advocacy. Venues included The White Coat Ceremony for the Medical School Class of 2006; Grand Rounds at UCSF, San Francisco General Hospital; UCSF Medical Residents Conference; and Mayo Clinic ID Grand Rounds.
