Imprisoned Women's Concepts of Health and Illness: The Implications for Policy on Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare

In the United Kingdom (UK), government policy urges involvement of patients in their care and in health-related research. Women prisoners have considerable health needs and constitute an important "patient" group. This study explores women prisoners' perceptions of health and illness...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public health policy 2008-12, Vol.29 (4), p.424-439
Main Authors: Plugge, Emma, Douglas, Nicola, Fitzpatrick, Ray
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to information
Concept Formation
Confidentiality
Diseases
Equality and Human Rights
Female
Focus Groups
Health behaviour
Health beliefs
Health care
Health care industry
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Policy
Health services
Humans
Life Style
Medical conditions
Medical research
Medical Sociology
Mental health
Patient participation
Patient Participation - psychology
Pilot Projects
Prisoners
Prisoners - psychology
Prisons
Public Health
Public involvement
Public Policy
Qualitative Research
Social Justice
Social Policy
Social Sciences
Sociology
Women
Women's Health
Womens health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the United Kingdom (UK), government policy urges involvement of patients in their care and in health-related research. Women prisoners have considerable health needs and constitute an important "patient" group. This study explores women prisoners' perceptions of health and illness to consider the extent to which they differed from those of lay people. Thirty-seven women participated in six focus groups across two prisons in England. They spoke about their views of health and what it was to be healthy. Women prisoners' concepts of health and well-being were similar to those of lay people and they demonstrated a good understanding of the key health issues faced by women prisoners. This group have much to contribute to the research process and researchers should attempt to overcome the existing barriers in order to involve prisoners more fully in line with UK Government policy.
ISSN:0197-5897
1745-655X
DOI:10.1057/jphp.2008.32