Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

Working within a prison mental health facility requires specific skills. In this session we willshare our experience regarding recruitment and education of employees, and present on skillsand qualifications necessary to work with this specific population. Five Penitentiary PsychiatricCentres were opened in the Netherlands in the last 3 years. In the process of recruitment andeducation we encountered challenges opportunities and difficulties worth discussing withcolleagues in prison and general mental healthcare. What are the implications of prison hierarchyfor mental healthcare? While it is the prison directors’ responsibility to provide treatment forinmates with mental disorder, it is the psychologist or psychiatrist that decides what treatment.Prison mental health staff (nurses and trained wardens) co-operate with and are supervised by thepsychologist. Healthcare Law holds them personally responsible for their contribution in thetreatment process. In prison healthcare personnel is subject to both hierarchy and professionalstandards. In the Penitentiary Psychiatric Centre these influences are balanced by dualmanagement on every level of the organisation. The head of the ward and the psychologist joinresponsibility for the ward as a whole, safeguarding professional autonomy of practitionerswithin the necessary strict hierarchy of the detention setting.Results of a Study on the Characteristics of Psychiatric Patients in a PrisonJanneke van Beek, Penitentiary Psychiatric Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands(j.van.beek@dji.minjus.nl)Major mental disorders increase the risk of violent behavior. A significant proportion ofpsychiatric patients end up in prison and receive treatment there, rather than in a mentalhealthcare institution. This group has histories of non-compliance, is elusive of healthcare and isvery hard to treat even in a mental health facility. To prevent recidivism and fine-tune treatment,more knowledge about this group is necessary. Their stay in prison is an excellent opportunity tolearn more about the characteristics of this psychiatrically and behaviorally severely disturbedgroup of people. We present the findings of research into symptoms and aggression of men andwomen incarcerated in a penitentiary psychiatric centre.Mental Disorders and Psychiatric Symptoms during Imprisonment and theRelation to ReoffendingOscar Bloem, Penitentiary Psychiatric Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands(o.bloem@dji.minjus.nl)A large number of prisoners suffer from mental disorders and psychiatric symptoms. Little isknown about the course and predictability of these symptoms and co-occurring problematicbehaviour during imprisonment. This study aimed to gain insight into the course of symptomsand behaviour to predict which prisoners need attention or treatment. Factors which relate to thecourse of psychiatric symptoms were studied over time. Furthermore, the effects of transferring116