Health outcomes and healthcare access experiences of incarcerated and recently released women in rural areas: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: The goal of this scoping review was to identify and synthesize what is known about the health outcomes and healthcare access experiences of women who are currently incarcerated or recently released from prison/jail in rural areas.

Methods: We followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. The population of interest was adult women or gender-diverse people who are either currently incarcerated or had been released in the prior year. The concepts of interest were health outcomes and health access experiences. The context was rural institutions of incarceration and rural communities in the post-incarceration period.

Results: We identified 48 relevant studies conducted in the US, Australia and England, published between 2001 and 2024. Ten studies took place in a rural community up to 1 year post-incarceration, and the remaining 38 took place in a rural prison or jail. The most common outcomes of interest were those related to substance use.

Conclusion: Women in rural institutions of incarceration experience a general lack of healthcare options and availability, and may have elevated needs related to substance use. Women released into rural communities face barriers to accessing care, often relying on relationships to facilitate access to health care and social services, in lieu of the clinical and transitional services available in urban areas. Gaps in research include evidence on health outcomes not related to substance use, and experiences accessing primary care both while incarcerated and after release.

Keywords: England; US; health access experiences; health outcomes; prison; scoping review; women; Australia.