Giving Compass' Take:

• Grantmakers in Health offers suggestions as to what funders can do for older individuals who were previously incarcerated but now have to transition to post-release life, usually in poor health conditions.

• How can older individuals who are serving sentences in jail get access to better health conditions? Should they be afforded more access? 

• Read about the terms of 'compassionate release' in prison and how infrequently we use it. 

Sometimes a shift in perspective leads to far-reaching innovations, whether in policy, programs, or grantmaking.

Imagine a ward full of elderly people, some who use walkers, others who lie in hospital beds, believing they are back in their childhood homes. Shift your perspective, and see that these older adults are in prison, aging and dying in one of the specialized units created to manage the growing population of incarcerated elders.

That researchers consider people to be “older prisoners” starting at age 50 or 55 points to a hard truth: incarcerated people are physiologically older than their same-age counterparts outside of prison. Pre-existing factors—such as lack of health care, substance abuse, and exposure to disease—mean these individuals enter incarceration “older” than their chronological age. Prison life itself—including poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, inconsistent health care, and unrelenting stress—mean that individuals age more rapidly once behind bars. In prisons and jails, 50 is the new 65.

What Can Health Funders Do?

  • Support changes in law and policy. 
  • Re-examine grantmaking priorities. 
  • Ask questions of your grantees. 
  • Learn more and educate others.

ERI was developed through a planning grant from The Florence V. Burden Foundation, a family foundation based in New York, New York. In an effort to improve the lives of those in need, the foundation focuses its giving in three programmatic areas: children, youth and families; aging and senior services; and criminal justice. This includes addressing the needs of incarcerated people of all ages and their families.

Read the full source article about aging in prison by Eileen Kelly and Danylle Rudin at Grantmakers In Health.