The ten essential public health services model as a framework for correctional health care

Abstract

Correctional health care is of interest to public health practitioners due to the highly vulnerable social and health characteristics of inmates, ex-offenders, and their communities, as well as the access to health care provided to them through the criminal justice system. The public health model for correctional health care has evolved from one concerned primarily with infectious disease control within the facility to a model of comprehensive health care that additionally recognizes the importance of providing continuity of care as inmates transition into free-living communities. The Ten Essential Public Health Services is proposed as a conceptual framework for a public health approach to correctional health care and is illustrated by application to a health care program for a large jail system in Jacksonville, FL.