Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Apr 17;13(1):23.
doi: 10.1186/s40352-025-00331-x.

Linkages between incarceration and health for older adults

Meghan A Novisky  1 , Stephanie Grace Prost  2 , Benjamin Fleury-Steiner  3 , Alexander Testa  4
Affiliations
Review

Linkages between incarceration and health for older adults

Meghan A Novisky et al. Health Justice. .

Abstract

The aging population in United States (US) correctional facilities has grown dramatically over the last several decades. At present, roughly one in four adults incarcerated in US prisons are at least 50 years of age. Research over the last ten years has likewise expanded to catalog the impacts of incarceration on older adults, and the myriad ways incarceration is unique for this population. In this paper, we summarize the state of the literature at the intersection of incarceration, health, and aging. We begin by outlining the impacts of incarceration on a range of individual health outcomes for older adults. Next, we offer targeted policy implications to address the health consequences of incarceration for older adults. Finally, we conclude by offering a research agenda that emphasizes theory building, jail-based approaches, and expansion of what is known about older women, cognitive impairment, correctional staff perspectives, and interventions to enhance the health of older persons who are incarcerated.

Keywords: Elderly inmates; Geriatrics; Health; Incarceration; Jail; Older adults; Prison.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Aday RH, Krabill JJ. (2016). The silenced emotion: Older women and grief in prison. In Handbook of social justice in loss and grief (pp. 138-153). Routledge.
    1. Ahalt, C., Binswanger, I. A., Steinman, M., Tulsky, J., & Williams, B. A. (2012). Confined to ignorance: The absence of prisoner information from nationally representative health data sets. Journal of General Internal Medicine,27, 160–166. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahalt, C., Bolano, M., Wang, E. A., & Williams, B. (2015). The state of research funding from the National Institutes of Health for criminal justice health research. Annals of Internal Medicine,162, 345–352. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahalt, C., Stijacic-Cenzer, I., Miller, B. L., Rosen, H. J., Barnes, D. E., & Williams, B. A. (2018). Cognition and incarceration: Cognitive impairment and its associated outcomes in older adults in jail. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,66(11), 2065–2071. - PMC - PubMed
    1. American geriatrics society workgroup on vitamin D supplementation for older adults. (2014). Recommendations abstracted from the American Geriatrics Society consensus statement on vitamin D for prevention of falls and their consequences. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,62(1), 147–52. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources