Understanding Mental and Physical Health Issues for Older Adults
Prisons were never intended or designed to care for older adult populations. Yet, between 2003 and 2013, correctional facilities experienced the greatest growth in the population of inmates aged 55 and older (Carson & Sabol, 2016). The continued growth of this population increases the likelihood that correctional officers will be faced with the need to recognize symptoms of behavioral and physical health conditions common to older adult populations. It also increases the need for correctional officers to learn how to respond in ways that balance human rights with facility security. The goal of this course is to provide correctional officers working in adult correctional facilities with information to help them recognize symptoms of behavioral and physical health conditions common among older adult populations and interventions they can use to improve the care and supervision of older adult inmates.
Prisons were never intended or designed to care for older adult populations. Yet, between 2003 and 2013, correctional facilities experienced the greatest growth in the population of inmates aged 55 and older (Carson & Sabol, 2016). The continued growth of this population increases the likelihood that correctional officers will be faced with the need to recognize symptoms of behavioral and physical health conditions common to older adult populations. It also increases the need for correctional officers to learn how to respond in ways that balance human rights with facility security. The goal of this course is to provide correctional officers working in adult correctional facilities with information to help them recognize symptoms of behavioral and physical health conditions common among older adult populations and interventions they can use to improve the care and supervision of older adult inmates.
