Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40172730›Full record

ArticleHealth & justice2025

"Equipping and enabling" health literacy during a "time of change": understanding health literacy and organisational health literacy responsiveness for people leaving prison in later life.

Ye In Jane Hwang, Amanuel Kidane Hagos, Ben Harris-Roxas, Adrienne Lee Withall, Tony Gerard Butler, Stephen Hampton, Christina Cheng, Shandell Elmer

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Article in Health & justice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Ye In Jane HwangSchool of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia. jane.hwang@unsw.edu.au.
Amanuel Kidane HagosSchool of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Ben Harris-RoxasSchool of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Adrienne Lee WithallSchool of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Tony Gerard ButlerSchool of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Stephen HamptonJustice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network NSW, Matraville, Australia.
Christina ChengSwinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
Shandell ElmerSwinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis qualitative study investigated experiences and understandings of health literacy for those released from prison in later life. The global rise in older incarcerated individuals-defined as those aged 50 and above-poses significant public health and health equity challenges. With up to one in four prisoners being categorized as "older," their complex health needs often exceed those of younger inmates and the general community. An important but under-investigated challenge for this older population is navigating health care systems and self-management of health after release. Research evidence, albeit limited, has consistently identified health literacy deficits in this this population, complicating their health outcomes and reintegration more generally. This study fills a gap in the experience of health literacy for older people leaving prison, thus contributing to conceptual understandings and guiding targeted intervention development for this marginalised population.

resultsFifteen people with lived experience of release from prison in older age (mean age = 57) and thirteen staff or stakeholders with relevant professional experience from Australia participated in workshops and interviews exploring health literacy during the post-release period. An abductive thematic analysis was applied to the data, guided by the concept of health literacy and organisational health literacy responsiveness. The analysis produced two global themes ("Change" and "Equipped and Enabled") and seven subthemes ("A demanding time of change", "Braving a new world", "Leaving prison care", "I can only do what I can", "Help me help myself", "Others are key", "Everybody's problem, nobody's job"). Together, these themes indicated these individuals are the subject of complex and overlapping life circumstances, with limited resources and support currently available for health literacy both during and after release.

conclusionThis population are mostly passive health care and information 'receivers' as a result of their imprisonment, who must be equipped and enabled to become more active health literacy 'doers'. This can be achieved through interventions that prepare the person better for life in community, and improve positive self-concept. Health and custodial organisations have an important role to play, with opportunities for improvement apparent across areas such as communication, focused health literacy policies, and collaboration with community partners.

Indexed as

AgingHealth equityHealth literacyLived experienceOlder adultsPrison policyPublic healthQualitative researchReintegrationRelease

Identifiers

PMID40172730
PMCPMC11963504

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.