The US prison system faces a growing healthcare crisis due to its aging population. By 2050, the number of older inmates is projected to significantly increase, requiring adaptations in prison healthcare. Many facilities lack the resources to adequately care for older adults, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive solutions.
The U.S. corrections system faces a health care crisis as the population ages rapidly, offering a troubling glimpse into the challenges facing the nation as a whole. By 2050, the U.S. population of older adults is projected to grow from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million in 2050—a trend already evident in prisons. Between 1999 and 2016, the population of incarcerated adults ages 55 and older grew by 18%, while the number of younger adults increased by only 3%.
Since then, the number of older residents continues to grow. As the demographics of the carceral system, and the country, change, institutions will be forced to adapt to meet the unique needs of their aging populations. While some prisons have taken steps to provide hospice and palliative care to a limited number of residents, many facilities are not equipped to care for a high volume of older adults, a report from the Office of the Inspector General confirms. Compassionate release and medical parole are an option for the select few who qualify, but these programs are often complex and difficult to navigate. In response to these challenges, some non-profit organizations have stepped up to fill the gaps in care for incarcerated people, while state and federal governments work to create long-term change. The Humane Prison Hospice Project created a unique model that could mediate the growing care crisis in prisons over coming decades. Humane trains residents to serve as hospice and palliative caregivers and grief companions to their aging and dying peers. This cost-effective and humanitarian approach benefits caregivers, care recipients, medical staff, and the facilities that implement it, and could serve as a scalable model for addressing the needs of aging adults in the broader community.Prisons can be generally unhealthy places for people of all ages due to several environmental and systemic factors, but older adults are particularly vulnerable to poor mental and physical health outcome
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