Speakers
Workshop Session
Health outcome for people released from incarceration are typically poor. Rates of mortality are markedly higher than in prison or among the general community. Rates of nonfatal overdose, self-harm, injury, and relapse to risky substance use and mental illness are all too common. However, internationally relatively few studies have been able to quantify these outcomes or identify modifiable risk factors. Furthermore, most studies have suffered from relatively small (often selected) samples that limit the utility and generalisability of the data. In this presentation I will describe two projects that have harmonised data from cohort studies of people released from incarceration. The Mortality After Release from Incarceration Consortium (MARIC) has harmonised data on mortality outcomes across 30 cohorts of people released from prisons in 12 countries (>1.5 million people). The Health After Release from Prison (HARP4) study has harmonised survey, clinical and linked administrative data from four prospective cohort studies of adults released from prisons in four Australian states (N=4,232). In this presentation I will provide an overview of these studies, consider why harmonising health data across cohorts and jurisdictions is important, and facilitate a discussion on the importance of robust, generalisable evidence to inform throughcare policy and practice.