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82 Prison J. 5 (2002)

handle is hein.journals/prsjrnl82 and id is 1 raw text is: 











                       GUEST EDITOR COMMENTS:
                   CORRECTIONS, HEALTH CARE,
                                  AND PUBLIC HEALTH

                                  ROBERTO HUGH POTTER
                                                 Guest Editor


   Just more than a quarter century ago, health care and corrections were
two terms rarely heard in the same context. Yet, around that time, disease
information specialist (DIS) workers in public health were discovering that
many of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) clients they dealt with were
either in lockup or had incarceration histories. About a decade ago, the
medical profession discovered correctional health care as a venue driven, in
many ways, by litigation and the number of HIV/AIDS patients found injails
and prisons. Correctional health care has become an expanding specialty in
the medical and public health fields. This can be seen in the number of arti-
cles devoted to aspects of health care in Corrections Today and the number of
people attending American  Correctional Health Services Association
(ACHSA),  National Commission  on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC)
conferences and American  Correctional Association (ACA) conference
health care tracks. Similar articles can be found in the American Journal of
Public Health, and there are developing special interest groups within the
American Public Health Association (APHA) at its conferences.
   Even today, however, the health care and public health opportunities cor-
rectional settings provide do not rate much of a mention in corrections and
criminal justice educational programs. Among corrections professions,
health care is more often approached as a budgetary and logistical nightmare
than an opportunity to provide an additional benefit to the communities
served by its institutions and programs. It is my hope that through this special
issue, we will open a few new eyes to the critical role corrections can play in
improving community  health. Rather than viewing health care as an addi-
tional burden, perhaps the authors can provide some direction toward new
partnerships and expanding the community role of corrections.
   Several of the articles deal with the public health surveillance aspect of
corrections and health. Broussard, Leichliter, Evans, Kee, Vallury, and
McFarlane provide evidence that screening for particular STDs in juvenile

THE PRISON JOURNAL, Vol. 82 No. 1, March 2002 5-7
© 2002 Sage Publications
                                                                  5

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