As coronavirus sweeps our nation it has brought deep-seated health inequities, including those linked to incarceration, to the forefront. Overcrowding and poor sanitation are putting prisoners at risk now more than ever. Scattered reports of guards and prisoners testing positive for COVID-19 are especially sobering since quarantines are nearly impossible among incarcerated populations. To address this, some jurisdictions are releasing select prisoners.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has long recognized how incarceration adversely affects health and health equity for prisoners as well as families and communities. With some 2.2 million adults and youth (PDF) in juvenile detention facilities, prisons, and jails, the United States incarcerates many more people—and a higher percentage of our population—than any other nation in the world. There is widespread agreement that incarceration has adverse effects on health and health equity, not just for prisoners themselves but also for families and communities.

There is a growing consensus that incarceration has been misused, grossly overused, and used inconsistently in the United States. Many of the more than two million people who are imprisoned are disadvantaged by poverty and/or discrimination, and were already unhealthy. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, it was clear that, while incarcerated, they often experience conditions that further harm their physical and mental health. These include poor sanitation, overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, violence and sexual abuse, inadequate mental health care, and other exacerbating conditions.

 Philanthropies and others can support data collection that provides greater context and helps those making policy choices understand how incarceration influences health and well-being. The lack of transparency about life in jails and prisons is a significant impediment to understanding incarceration's impact on health.

Read the full article about the health impact of incarceration by Carolyn E. Miller and Douglas Yeung at RAND Corporation.