A Primer on Carceral Health for Clinicians: Care Delivery, Regulatory Oversight, Legal and Ethical Considerations, and Clinician Responsibilities

The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, with approximately 1.7 million individuals detained in jails or federal or state prisons. Chronic medical conditions are more prevalent among adults in custody than among their nonincarcerated counterparts, resulting in needs that often surpass the on-site medical treatment capabilities of carceral facilities. For this reason, many community-based health care professionals will encounter incarcerated patients in an ambulatory or inpatient setting. Yet, although carceral status engenders pragmatic and ethical complexities in patient care, health care professionals in academic and community settings receive little or no education about correctional health. This special article seeks to address this knowledge gap by providing demographic and patient characteristics of this population, describing health care delivery in the criminal legal system, summarizing incarcerated patients’ health care rights, conveying the current state of oversight and regulation for correctional health care, and presenting the role of health care professionals in advocating for the ethical care of incarcerated patients. By equipping themselves with this knowledge, clinicians may provide holistic and ethical care for persons involved in the criminal legal system.