Doing time: the experiences and needs of older people in prison

Prison staff working with older prisoners require specialist training and support, as the needs of older people can be hard to detect. The increase in numbers of people needing significant health and social care input has created huge challenges for prison, probation, health and social service staff. Despite improvements in this area and pockets of good practice, these needs remain largely unmet.

This briefing, based around interviews with older prisoners in the UK, makes the following suggestions for improvements:

Healthcare recommendations:

• older people should receive equivalent preventative healthcare to those in the community
• regular monitoring and screening, regional units for people needing high levels of healthcare and improved links with hospices
• mental health in-reach teams should have training on the specific mental health needs of older people
• compassionate early release restrictions should be reviewed so that people diagnosed with up to a year to live can apply for early release

Social care recommendations:

• adult social services should work in prisons systematically to ensure the delivery of social care to older people, with clarification on legal responsibilities for social care provision
• joint health and social care assessments should be undertaken routinely for older prisoners with social care needs

Sentence progression:

• risk assessments should take account of health and social care needs
• sentence planning should include appropriate requirements so that older prisoners with learning difficulties or mental illnesses such as dementia are supported fully if asked to do offending behaviour programmes
• lower category  prisons should make adjustments so that older people with mobility or health problems are not prevented from transferring to lower security conditions

Regimes:

• prison regimes should take into account the particular physical, health and social needs of older people
• all allegations of bullying of older prisoners should be responded to quickly and effectively
• community based organisations with experience of working with the elderly should be encouraged and funded to contribute to prison regimes

Environment, conditions and relationships:

• allocation policies need to take account of mobility and other health and social care needs
• improved laundry facilities and bathrooms with appropriate aids would help to provide a decent environment
• prisons should encourage family contact through the use of extended visits for people who cannot visit often and grandparents’ visits days
• visitors’ centres should be accessible and have appropriate facilities for older and disabled visitors

Resettlement:

• resettlement work should link to healthcare/GP services in the area of release
• older prisoners requiring social care in the community should be routinely referred to their receiving local authority for a social services needs assessment
• accommodation provided on release should take account of age, disability and social care needs
• prisons should link with voluntary agencies in their area so that isolated older people have a support network on release