Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Prisoners in the South East
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Prisoners in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex prisons
IRAS ID
209006
Contact name
Nichola Tyler
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
A Mental Health Needs Assessment (MHNA) was last conducted across the Kent and Medway prisons in 2007 (see Wildgoose et al., 2007). However, in the last 10 years the area covered by the Health and Criminal Justice Commissioning Team NHS England South East has widened and the prison population in the region changed (e.g., some establishments closed, others were re-rolled in terms of the offender group they held). Thus, the previous MHNA is outdated and not representative of the current population which the Health and Justice Commissioning Team have to provide mental health services to.
The current research project aims to undertake a MHNA across 13 prison establishments in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. A random sample of approximately 5% of the population from each participating prison will be recruited to the study. Participants will be asked to complete a battery of questionnaire measures, commonly used in clinical practice, to screen for a range of psychopathology. The results of the research will be used to (a) inform local Prison Health Partnership Boards of the current need for Mental Health Services and support in these establishments, (b) inform the commissioning of Mental Health Services in each establishment, and (c) inform the strategic direction and service improvement of each establishments Mental Health Service provision.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
16/WA/0316
Date of REC Opinion
14 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion