The development of a national policy strategy for older adults in the criminal justice system

The absolute number and overall proportion of people aged 50 and over in prison in England and Wales is growing.

This is because we have an aging population generally, changes to sentencing policy have resulted in people going to prison for longer and people going to prison later in life for historical offences.

Historically, prisons have largely accommodated young men and the increase in older people has brought challenges around the provision of a suitable physical environment (cells/bathrooms/stairs) and regimes (work/education/non-vocational activities/age-specific health and social care services) for potentially frail, less mobile individuals.

Our research and findings from HM Inspectorate of Prisons have highlighted the struggles experienced by both prisoners and staff on a daily basis trying to access/provide adequate facilities in the absence of central guidance from HMPPS and NHS England.

Frontline staff and managers would be assisted in the development of quality services for this group if they were able to access centrally ratified guidance in terms of a national strategy for the management of older people in contact with the criminal justice system, with particular emphasis on their treatment within the prison estate.

To inform such a national strategy we will conduct a synthesis of the available evidence already published in this field, starting with our research group s body of evidence following over a decade of research in this field.

Gaps in knowledge will be identified and augmented by a realist review of national and international research, practice and policy evidence.

Once we have triangulated all existing published evidence, we will conduct a series of nominal group meetings with policy, practitioner, third sector and service user informants to further hone “what good looks like” in the context of the evidence, in the English (health and social care) and English and Welsh (criminal justice & prison estate) setting(s).

All data will be triangulated for a final time and presented in the form of a national strategy which provides clear guidance for frontline workers and managers to base the development of high quality and sustainable services for this demographic.