Healthcare in Prisons Conclusion and Recommendations

Undoubtingly, healthcare in prisons is an area that needs keen focus and significant

improvement. It is evident that state and federal governments, through the lack of focus on this

critical area, are spending many resources that could otherwise have been avoided (Gates et al.,

2014). The mental health of incarcerated individuals is of particular importance as it is critical in

reducing recidivism rates in the United States. The lack of mental health healthcare providers

may lead to suicides and injuries in prisons, accelerating the need for the prisons to spend more

money while they are still underfunded. On the issue of physical health, it is essential to have a

healthy prison population. These are individuals who can add value with the right intervention

strategies. For instance, they can help produce some products and offer services to the nation at

no cost or subsidized costs. Perhaps, taking care of their healthcare could be the long-awaited

solution to reducing the number of incarcerated individuals in the U.S, considering that it is the

country that incarcerates the majority of its population globally. The conclusion is that healthcare

in prisons is an urgent public administration issue that requires immediate interventions where

some recommendations are made below.

The first recommendation is for correctional facility administrators to advocate for better

food and nutrition in prisons. While prisoners are in the facilities because of their wrongdoing,

access to nutritionally beneficial food is an essential component of their healthcare needs and is

also a fundamental human right. Nutritionally healthy food does not have to add expenses to the

prisons. Instead, the correctional administrators should advocate for policies that allow the

facilities that do not produce their food. Prisoners can be pretty productive, and this can be used

to their advantage where they get nutritionally beneficial food and consequently better immunity

as part of their healthcare needs.