Advantages Of New Public Health

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Should health care be provided to prisoners confined within the penitentiary system? Numerous people would answer no to this question, stating that those within the prison population should suffer for the crimes they have committed. However, once within the penitentiary system the prisoners’ health becomes the responsibility of the correctional administration (Robert, 2008). The criminal justice system prioritizes security and punishment over health and wellbeing forcing us to question our assumptions about the numerous illnesses prisoners bring into the penitentiary with them, segregating mentally ill prisoners, as well as the problems associated with the new and old public health models now in use. This essay will identify and examine Dominique …show more content…

It emphasized environmental components, to protect populations’ health and to prevent diseases. In contrast, the new public health model obligates the individual to participate in self-care, risk management and the prevention of diseases (Robert, 2008). Campaigns are produced to make people aware and involved in the maintenance of their own health. The new public health model was created in hopes of maintaining ‘free will’ by promoting knowledgeable health choices rather than compelling people to comply (Robert, 2008). As outlined by Robert, there are two interdependent experiences in the introduction of the new public health. First, is the use of prison as an accessory for prisoners to access the tools of the new public health since majority of inmates will be returning to the community at some point of their sentence meaning they are components of community health. Second, is the alteration of inmates into healthcare “consumers” (2008). Why do prisoners have access to health care when certain populations do not? In the case of prisoners, it is the correctional administrations job to prevent the inmate’s health from deteriorating. According to Robert, the ‘less eligibility principle’ “…prevents inmates’ health from deteriorating while making sure that prison doesn’t offer conditions better than those endured by the poorest segment of the free population” (2013, p.

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