Older individuals (55 years and over) constitute a growing proportion of the prison population. As a group, they are more vulnerable to poor health outcomes to those with serious mental disorders of the same age, however, the specific healthcare profiles and needs of this group were not well understood.

Limited research suggests older incarcerated individuals reported high rates of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular conditions, and liver disease, while mental health problems were common, especially anxiety, fear of desire for death or suicide, and depression.

The PANOP study, funded by NIHR Underserved Populations initiative, will address these important issues in prisons across Nottinghamshire NHS Healthcare Trust. Specifically, it will ask- what are the levels of physical and mental disorders, quality of life, and cognitive functioning in older prisoners and how can this inform development of adequate service to address their needs? The study employs a cross-sectional mixed methods design, involving standardise questionnaires and surveys to measure levels of health, wellbeing, recovery, restrictiveness, cognitive function and interviews of a subset for qualitative information.

More information about the project here.

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