Probation and COVID-19: Lessons learned to improve health-related practice
| Author | Helen Nichols,Philip Mullen,Coral Sirdfield |
| DOI | 10.1177/02645505221087980 |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Probation and
COVID-19: Lessons
learned to improve
health-related practice
Coral Sirdfield
University of Lincoln, UK
Helen Nichols
University of Lincoln, UK
Philip Mullen
Revolving Doors Agency, UK
Abstract
Probation staff perform a health-related role involving identifying health-related dri-
vers of offending behaviour; facilitating access to support for these, including continu-
ity of care for people leaving prison; and advising the courts on appropriate
sentencing. This study analyses data from probation staff surveys and interviews
with people that were under probation supervision during the pandemic to investigate
the impact of the response to the pandemic on a) this health-related role, b) the lived
experience of accessing health support whilst engaging with probation, and c) part-
nership working and pathways into healthcare for people under probation
supervision.
Keywords
probation, Covid-19, pandemic, health, criminal justice system, rehabilitation,
qualitative research
Corresponding Author:
Dr Coral Sirdfield, University of Lincoln, School of Health and Social Care, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN67TS,
United Kingdom.
Email: c.sirdfield@lincoln.ac.uk
Article The Journal of Communit
y
and Criminal Justice
Probation Journal
2022, Vol. 69(2) 216–234
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/02645505221087980
journals.sagepub.com/home/prb
Background
The National Probation Service (NPS) Health and Social Care Strategy 2019–2022
details a health-related role for probation staff that is summarised in Figure 1
(HMPPS and NPS, 2019). Much of this role is performed in partnership with other
agencies, with the exact nature of partnerships varying across probation regions.
NHS England is currently piloting a ‘care after custody’service called
‘RECONNECT’to improve continuity of care for prison leavers. NPS staff are
expected to engage with this service (HMPPS and NPS, 2019; NHS England,
2019). Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) staff performed a similar role
before the reunification of probation.
When compared to the general population, people under probation supervision
have relatively poor health with high rates of drug and alcohol misuse, mental
illness, suicide and suicidal ideation and smoking (Brooker et al., 2012; Geelan
et al., 2000; Mair and May, 1997; HMPPS and NPS, 2019; Newbury-Birch
et al., 2009; Pari et al., 2012; Phillips et al., 2018; Sirdifield, 2012). A health
needs assessment of 183 people on probation in England reported that:
‘almost half of the sample were identified at risk of alcohol abuse or dependence while
39 per cent…was at risk of substance misuse. Over four-fifths (83%) of the sample
smoked tobacco and 13 per cent had been treated for a sexually transmitted infection;
all these rates markedly exceed those found amongst the general population’(Brooker
et al., 2009: 49).
Weighted prevalence figures from a study of a stratified random sample of
people on probation in one region of England showed that almost 39% had a
current mental illness (Brooker et al., 2012). Here, the overall rate of personality dis-
order was 47.4% compared to 13.7% in the general population (McManus et al.,
2016). The rate of suicide amongst people under supervision is 8.67 times higher
than that in the general population (Philips et al., 2018). Improving this population’s
Figure 1. Summary of probation’s health-related role.
Sirdfield et al. 217
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