Table 1 Articles included in the review
Author(s)/Year of publication | Title/Journal | Country/International | Study design/Publication type | Population described or studied | Service(s) affected | Key findings and recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akerman et al. (2020) | Social distancing in a social therapy environment – Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities | England | Case study | Male prisoners residing in HMP Grendon | Whole prison therapeutic community | Whole community meetings ceased; small group meetings and one-to-one meetings continued but in line with social distancing guidelines. The clinical focus of meetings changed, focusing on the here and now rather than the more diverse topics usually discussed. Distraction packs and daily bulletins distributed to residents. Impact likened to being in a mainstream prison as opposed to a therapeutic community environment, with a loss of sense of community reported. Non-operational staff utilised on the wings to support residents, with some wings introducing daily check-ins. Authors acknowledge that the return to ‘normality’ may be more difficult for therapeutic community prisons than mainstream prisons |
Bandara et al. (2020) | Early effects of COVID-19 on programs providing medications for opioid use disorder in jails and prisons – Journal of Addiction Medicine | USA | Cross-sectional study | 16 prisons/jails in the USA that were providing methadone/and or buprenorphine to inmates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic | Opioid substitution services | Survey responses demonstrated that 10/16 institutions reported to having downsized their opioid substitution programmes in response to COVID-19. 7/16 institutions reported that alterations to medication dispensing processes were made. 13/16 institutions reported using the same processes to make community follow-up appointments; 2 changed their processes and 1 discontinued scheduling follow-ups. 13/16 institutions reported that some programme participants were released earlier than scheduled through early release schemes. The authors propose that the use of telehealth may facilitate provision of opioid treatment services provided by community providers in jails/prisons through removing the need for face-to-face contact, and also that telehealth may increase access to community services for prisoners on release |
Bartlett et al. (2021) | Hepatitis C screening and diagnosis in a Canadian provincial correctional system during the COVID-19 pandemic – Hepatology | Canada | Secondary data analysis | 10 British Columbia Provincial Correctional Centres | Blood-borne virus screening – Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) screening/diagnosis | Compared to the first quarter of 2020 (i.e., pre-pandemic), there was a decrease in the number of HCV antibody (66%), RNA (67%) and genotype (68%) tests ordered by British Columbia Correctional Centres in the 2nd quarter of 2020 (i.e., following declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic). However, the total number of HCV tests ordered as a proportion of new receptions into the facilities increased from 17% in 2019 to 23% in 2020 |
Blogg et al. (2021) | Lessons learned from keeping NSW’s prisons COVID-free – International Journal of Prisoner Health | Australia | Case study | Prisons | Various healthcare services | Youth Justice facilities provided ‘mental health’ (distraction) packs to prisoners. Due to the reduced illicit supply of drugs into prisons, there was an increased demand for opioid substitution services – in response, the depot buprenorphine programme was quickly scaled up. Mental health services continued to be provided – ‘at risk’ prisoners had regular mental health reviews via telemedicine, and, for all other prisoners, mental health services continued to be available, facilitated again by telemedicine. Throughout the course of the pandemic, telemedicine access increased by over 30%. Whilst movements of prisoners between centres was generally curtailed, movements relating to health needs continued |
Burton et al. (2021) | Mental health services in a U.S. prison during the COVID-19 pandemic – Psychiatric Services | USA | Case study | 1 US prison | Mental health services | Temporary mental health units were set up and there was a reassignment of mental health staff roles to deal with the increased demand for mental health services following the curtailment of prison transfers. Almost all mental health services provided in the prison implemented physical distancing measures. Group therapy sessions were impacted through a reduction in group sizes. Increased use of videoconferencing for psychiatric legal hearings and telepsychiatry became a key feature of care – by the end of March 2020, approximately 2/3 of all psychiatric consultations utilised telehealth. Face-to-face consultations still took place where indicated (i.e., where clinically indicated by a clinician). Both staff and patients seem satisfied with telepsychiatry services, and the authors acknowledge the benefits in terms of its efficiency |
di Giacomo et al. (2020) | Italian prisons during the COVID-19 outbreak – American Journal of Public Health | Italy | Case study | 1 Italian prison | Mental health services | Increased mental health service provision was provided, however weekly therapeutic groups were suspended. Authors report a similar level of mental health consultations in the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2019 |
Donelan et al. (2021) | COVID-19 and treating incarcerated populations for opioid use disorder – Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment | USA | Case study | 1 US jail | Opioid substitution services | Opioid substitution services were adapted rapidly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; provision of services moved away from groups to housing units, behavioural groups were cancelled, and medications were dispensed at cell-doors for those medically quarantining. Telehealth has also become increasingly used; to provide psychosocial support to distressed individuals, to provide in-reach services by community providers and for post-release re-entry programming. Early release schemes posed problems for the programme, as many programme participants were being released at short notice, creating difficulties with community care continuation planning. In response to this, a bespoke model was implemented, which relied heavily upon telehealth. The jail also collaborated with other agencies to facilitate take home doses for those being released from custody |
Duncan et al. (2021) | Adaptations to jail-based buprenorphine treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic – Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment | USA | Case study | 1 US jail | Opioid substitution services | Delivery of the existing opioid substitution programme continued during COVID-19. The relaxation of federal regulations meant that telemedicine could be implemented, leading to adaptations to the existing programme; buprenorphine initiation consultations were conducted via telemedicine as opposed to face-to-face and patients were offered buprenorphine taper on admission. Telemedicine was also used in other health areas (i.e., mental health and general health services). Adaptations to the nurse intake procedure were also made. The authors acknowledge that the reduced jail population in response to COVID-19 has aided access for patients to opioid substitution services. The authors suggest that telemedicine buprenorphine initiation should continue post-pandemic |
Edge et al. (2020) | COVID-19: digital equivalence of health care in English prisons – The Lancet Digital Health | England | Commentary | Prisons | Prison telemedicine | HMPPS supported legislation changes enabling use of 4G-enabled tablets within prisons to combat connectivity issues previously experienced; proposed that all prisons within England will have 4G-enabled tablets, access to telemedicine and mobile access to patients’ electronic health records as a result of the pandemic. Due to implementation barriers, tablets were not implemented before the peak of the first wave of the pandemic ended. The authors acknowledge the many benefits of telemedicine for prisons (i.e., access to specialist services, reduced referral waiting times etc.) and highlight the need for HMPPS to keep up to date with new technological advances to ensure digital inequalities are not further widened |
Montanari et al. (2021) | The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on drug service provision in European prisons – International Journal of Prisoner Health | Europe | Mixed-methods study | Prisons | Drug treatment services | Most of the 15 European countries reported decreases in drug treatment/harm reduction service provision at the beginning of the pandemic. Services most affected by discontinuation or reduction were; interventions involving groups, interventions delivered by external providers, one-to-one psychosocial counselling, links to care in the community, preparations for release and therapeutic communities. Most countries reported no changes in service provision for; drug assessment at reception/intake, detoxification, opioid substitution initiation/maintenance, testing/treatment for blood-borne viruses, condom distribution, needle exchange programmes, overdose prevention advice and drug testing. Many countries reported innovative adaptations to services, such as consultations via telemedicine, auto-renewal of opioid substitution prescriptions, alteration to medication dispensing, and sharing of knowledge between countries. Some countries specifically acknowledged the importance of collaboration/communication between different agencies involved (i.e., prison service, health service, non-governmental/voluntary organisations) |
Remy et al. (2021) | Lack of COVID-19 impact on managing Hepatitis C in prison like the general population – Hepatology | France | Secondary data analysis | Prisons | Blood-borne virus screening – HCV screening/diagnosis | After the introduction of the first French lockdown in 2020, between June and December 2020, HCV screening and treatment rates increased. There was no decrease in HCV-RNA tests and HCV screening in 2020 compared to 2019. All prisoners found to have detectable HCV RNA in 2020 were treated |
Roberts et al. (2021) | Rapid upscale of depot buprenorphine (CAM2038) in custodial settings during the early COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales, Australia – Addiction | Australia | Letter to Editor | Prisons | Opioid substitution services | To reduce risk of COVID-19 infection and reduce demand on resources, patients on sublingual buprenorphine-naloxone were switched to monthly buprenorphine depot. Authors acknowledge that collaboration was key to success of scaling up depot buprenorphine provision |