Evaluation of the Substance Misuse Services in HMP Berwyn, North Wales
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An evaluation of Medicine Management Programme and Substance Misuse Services in prison and upon release in the community: a mixed methods study.
IRAS ID
322290
Contact name
Sadia Nafees
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bangor University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Substance use by offenders is a significant concern for all health and criminal justice systems. The WHO European health policy framework, Health 2020, highlighted the importance of health in prisons as part of public health that can reduce health and societal risks (Enggist, 2014). Fazel et al. (2006) suggested that a greater understanding of the proportion of men abusing illicit substances would be helpful for the development of appropriate services and inform safer and proper treatment interventions (Fazel, 2006).
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) is the responsible Health Board for health care for individuals residing in HMP Berwyn and commissions this mixed-methods research to evaluate their Medicine Management Programme (MMP) and the Substance Misuse Services (SMS) in HMP Berwyn and service users within three to six months post-release. This research will provide in-depth qualitative data on the experiences of 25 service users engaging with the MMP and the SMS within HMP Berwyn and 15 service users in the community by undertaking semi-structured interviews. In addition, this research will capture the routinely collected information about the demographic, clinical and offending history to explore links with the social determinants of physical and mental health among the study participants. It will include all men entering HMP Berwyn between 1st January 2022 and 31st December 2023. Thus, developing an understanding of how the services operate, including barriers and facilitators in HMP Berwyn and three months post-release.
The research will further add to the existing knowledge on barriers and facilitators to substance misuse treatment (Carroll & Rounsaville, 1992; Kennedy et al., 2001; Neale et al., 2007) and service users' experience of prisons (Tompkins et al., 2007), however, will be unique by researching these facets in one study and doing so in a UK prison, which has not been undertaken to date.
References:
Carroll KM, Rounsaville BJ: Contrast of treatment-seeking and untreated cocaine abusers. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1992, 49: 464-471.
Enggist, Stefan, Møller, Lars, Galea, Gauden & Udesen, Caroline. (2014). Prisons and health. World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/128603
Fazel S, Bains P & Doll H (2006) Substance abuse and dependence in prisoners: a systematic review. Addiction 101, 181-191.
Kennedy C, Neale J, Barr K, Dean J: Good practice towards homeless drug users. 2001, Edinburgh: Scottish Homes.
Neale, J., sheard, L. & Tompkins, C.N. Factors that help injecting drug users to access and benefit from services: A qualitative study. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy 2, 31 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-2-31.Tompkins, C.N.E., Neale, J., Sheard, L. and Wright, N.M.J. (2007), "Experiences of prison among injecting drug users in England: A qualitative study", International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 189-203. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449200701520123
REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
23/WA/0152
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jun 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion