JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Individuals released from carceral facilities have high rates of hospitalization and death, especially in the weeks immediately following 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. Our research team is developing a mobile application to create personal health libraries for individuals returning from incarceration to help bridge the transition from carceral settings to community living.

Objective:

We will use qualitative research methods to assess the facilitators and barriers to developing and using personal health information technology for individuals returning from incarceration.

Methods:

Using qualitative methods, team members plan to conduct individual interviews with people just released from carceral facilities (n=~20) and providers (n=~10) from the local community and carceral facilities who work to facilitate the transition for returning community members. We will use 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 December 2022, our qualitative researchers have enrolled and interviewed individuals released from carceral facilities (n=20) and providers (n=6) who work with persons who have a history of incarceration from various community programs.

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, needs upon re-entry to the community, and create potential pathways for fostering engagement with personal health information technology.