Journal

ID: ACJ18-A007 03 Feb 2025

by Kayla Wanamaker, Daniella Filoso, Wardah Mahboob, Sara Johnson, Marie-Pierre Gendron, Jonathan Smith, Shannon Thompson, Roger Martin, Lynne Leonard, Paul Sandstorm

Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #18 - What Is Working With Women: Correctional Practice in the Post Bangkok Rules Era (ACJ18-A007)

Article 7: Infectious Diseases, Risk Behaviors and Harm Reduction in Women’s Canadian Correctional Institutions (ACJ18-A007)

Abstract

This article summarizes findings from the 2022 National Health Survey of people in Canadian federal women's correctional institutions which includes prevalence estimates of infectious diseases, risk behaviors, and access to harm reduction services. This study included 119 participants. Just under thirty-eight percent tested positive for antibodies for at least one infectious disease, indicating lifetime infection. Forty-seven percent reported getting a tattoo in federal prison of which 28% engaged in device sharing. In the past six months, 25% of participants indicated using drugs, of which 30% smoked and 94% snorted drugs. Results can inform harm reduction strategies and prevention practices.

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Authors

Kayla Wanamaker

Research Manager, Correctional Services Canada, Canada

Kayla A. Wanamaker, PhD, is a Research Manager at Correctional Services Canada. She received a Doctorate degree in Psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (2020). She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology (2012) and a Master of Arts degree in Psychology (2015) both from Carleton University. Her research interests include risk assessment and programming for justice-impacted women and strengths and protective factors.

Daniella Filoso

Research Officer, Correctional Services Canada, Canada

Daniella Filoso is a Research Officer at Correctional Services Canada. In 2021, she graduated with a Master of Science degree in Forensic Psychology from the University of Ontario Institue of Technology in Oshawa, Canada. She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with a concentration in forensic psychology (2019) from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Her research intrests include substance use in correctional settings and the effectiveness of correctional programs. She has also done previous research in the area of eyewitness memory and developmental psychology.

Wardah Mahboob

Resarch Analyst, Correctional Service Canada, Canada

Wardah Mahboob graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She joined Correctional Service Canada in 2022 and is currently working as a Technical Analyst in the Policy Sector.

Sara Johnson

Senior Research Manager, Correctional Service Canada, Canada

Sara Johnson is the Senior Research Manager responsible for managing the Interventions and Women Offenders portfolio within the Research Branch at the Correctional Service Canada (CSC). She has been conducting social science research within the federal public service, primarily in the area of criminal justice, since 1996. She has conducted research in diverse areas such as community corrections, addictions, women offenders, correctional programming and offender assessment. Ms. Johnson holds a Master's degree in Experimental Psychology from Carleton University, with a concentration in Forensic Psychology.

Marie-Pierre Gendron

Senior Research Officer, Correctional Service Canada, Canada

Marie-Pierre Gendron is a Senior Research Officer at Correctional Service Canada. She received a baccalaureate in Pharmacology from the Université de Sherbrooke and a Master's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences - Medication and Population Health from Université de Montréal. She worked as an Epidemiologist for the Public Health Agency of Canada before joining Correctional Service Canada in 2021.

Jonathan Smith

Jonathan Smith began his career as a public servant working in National HIV, STI, TB and retrovirus surveillance after obtaining a Master's of Science in Epidemiology in 2000. Jonathan began working with Correctional Service Canada (CSC) in 2004, first as an epidemiologist on loan from Health Canada, and in 2010 he officially joined the Health Service Sector at CSC. He has been working in the area of HIV/HCV prevention for over 20 years, and more recently on policy implementation related to harm reduction and recovery for people who are incarcerated with substance use health needs.

Shannon Thompson

Intelligence Officer, Correctional Service Canada, Canada

Shannon M. Thompson is a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health. She received a Bachelor's degree in Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience at the University of Windsor (2018), and Masters of Neuroscience at the University of Ottawa (2018). She is currentlt employed by Correctional Service Canada. Her research interest is on co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders in forensic populations.

Roger Martin

Nursing Project Manager, Correctional Services Canada, Canada

Roger Martin is a Nursing project Manager. As a registered nurse who graduated in 1999, he originally worked in the community before entering Correctional Services Canada (CSC) in 2002. Roger has extensive site experience as a front-line nurse, mentor and manager. It is in 2018 that he joined CSC's health quarter and is now a part of substance use & harm reduction efforts mainly involved in the prison needle exchange program and the overdose prevention service.

Lynne Leonard

Lynne Leonard, PhD, is a recently retired Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa where she founded and directed the HIV and HVC Prevention Research team. An active research investigator primarily focusing on harm reduction programmes for people who use and inject substances, Dr Leonard conducts research with and for the community. As a firm proponent of the necessity to transfer research findings to drive policy reformulation and programme change and development she has served as a member of many international, national, provincial, and regional committees. As an independant academic evaluator and Principal Investigator, she is currently evaluating the acceptability among inmates, and feasibility among correctional and programme staff of two harm reduction programs currently implemented in federal Institutions across Canada - the Prison Needle Exchange and the Overdose Prevention Service.

Paul Sandstorm

Director of the National HIV and Retrovirology Laboratories, Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada

Paul Sandstorm, PhD, received his doctorate from the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba where he conducted research on the regulation of tumor progression by the immune system. After completing his post-doctoral research on immune cell regulation and responses to oxidative stress in North Carolina, Dr. Sandstorm joined the HIV/AIDS and Retrovirology Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia as a research scientist. Since returning to Canada in 2002, he has been the Director of the National HIV and Retrovirology Laboratories, Public Health Agency of Canada. In this role, he has been responsible for planning, directing, and managing laboratory research, surveillance and clinical testing programs as part of the Federal Initiative on HIV/AIDS.

Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #18 - What Is Working With Women: Correctional Practice in the Post Bangkok Rules Era (ACJ18-A007)

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