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. 2023 May 3:12:e44748.
doi: 10.2196/44748.

Personal Health Libraries for People Returning From Incarceration: Protocol for a Qualitative Study

Marisol Foumakoye  1 , Meredith Campbell Britton  2   3 , Emile Ansari  2 , Monya Saunders  1 , Terika McCall  4   5   6 , Emily A Wang  1 , Lisa B Puglisi  1 , T Elizabeth Workman  7   8 , Qing Zeng-Treitler  7   8 , Yin Ying  7 , Shira Shavit  9   10 , Cynthia A Brandt  4   5   8 , Karen H Wang  1   2   5
Affiliations

Personal Health Libraries for People Returning From Incarceration: Protocol for a Qualitative Study

Marisol Foumakoye et al. JMIR Res Protoc. .

Abstract

Background: Individuals released from carceral facilities have high rates of hospitalization and death, especially in the weeks immediately after their return to community settings. During this transitional process, individuals leaving incarceration are expected to engage with multiple providers working in separate, complex systems, including health care clinics, social service agencies, community-based organizations, and probation and parole services. This navigation is often complicated by individuals' physical and mental health, literacy and fluency, and socioeconomic status. Personal health information technology, which can help people access and organize their health information, could improve the transition from carceral systems to the community and mitigate health risks upon release. Yet, personal health information technologies have not been designed to meet the needs and preferences of this population nor tested for acceptability or use.

Objective: The objective of our study is to develop a mobile app to create personal health libraries for individuals returning from incarceration to help bridge the transition from carceral settings to community living.

Methods: Participants were recruited through Transitions Clinic Network clinic encounters and professional networking with justice-involved organizations. We used qualitative research methods to assess the facilitators and barriers to developing and using personal health information technology for individuals returning from incarceration. We conducted individual interviews with people just released from carceral facilities (n=~20) and providers (n=~10) from the local community and carceral facilities involved with the transition for returning community members. We used rigorous rapid qualitative analysis to generate thematic output characterizing the unique circumstances impacting the development and use of personal health information technology for individuals returning from incarceration and to identify content and features for the mobile app based on the preferences and needs of our participants.

Results: As of February 2023, we have completed 27 qualitative interviews with individuals recently released from carceral systems (n=20) and stakeholders (n=7) who support justice-involved individuals from various organizations in the community.

Conclusions: We anticipate that the study will characterize the experiences of people transitioning from prison and jails to community settings; describe the information, technology resources, and needs upon reentry to the community; and create potential pathways for fostering engagement with personal health information technology.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/44748.

Keywords: carceral settings; personal health information technology; qualitative research; systemic oppression; transition from incarceration.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: TM is a member of the Clinical Diversity Advisory Board at Woebot Health as well as the Digital Wellbeing Advisory Board at Peer Health Exchange. TM is also the associate editor of the Journal of Medical Internet Research. KW also receives research funding from Genentech, Inc. Woebot Health, Peer Health Exchange, and Genentech, Inc were not involved in the writing of this paper or the decision to submit it for publication. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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