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For those re-entering society from prison, navigating the health care system and being able to afford treatment is a challenge, Emily Miller, health education coordinator with River Valley Health and Dental Center told the county's re-entry coalition at a meeting Monday.
"This population (former prisoners re-entering society) generally has a lower health care literacy than the rest of the population," Miller said during a talk on the public health implications of reentry.
River Valley Health and Dental Center is a non-profit community health center in the city that works with low-income patients and offers services that translate to helping individuals in re-entry, according to Miller.
When speaking to the coalition, Miller and James Yoxtheimer, president and CEO of the health center, highlighted those services that would be particularly helpful for someone going through reentry.
"Re-entry can really be a critical time to engage that individual and get them into care before something happens and they go to the emergency room," Miller said. "We will even go with you to the appointment and make sure you made it, you understand what that visit was for, what your treatment plan looks like and follow up to make sure you don't have any questions."
Health care centers are an effective part of helping people transition back into society, according to Miller, because of social services like 24/7 nurse triage, a patient-centered model that tries to make the process of seeing your doctor feel less segmented and assessments that go as far as asking if an individual is safe in their home and have food security.
About half of the individuals in prison or jail report having had a chronic condition, more than half report having a mental health condition and 20 percent have had an infectious disease, she said.
To Yoxtheimer, the more health care and re-entry professionals work together, the more likely it is that people can get the medical help they need out of prison.
"There are some things that would possibly help us help the patient that would be having some communication with us at your level," Yoxtheimer said, adding that probation officers could ask questions like, "Did you get to your appointment? Why didn't you get to your appointment?"
The state's Executive Deputy Attorney General Robert K. Reed, sat in for the presentation, adding that the state is particularly focused on improving mental health treatment after prison and is looking into a state wide effort.
"(We want to) provide a greater sense of awareness with trauma and mental health," he said. "So many people in the prison system suffer from trauma."