Letters from the big house providing consumer health reference for texas prisons final
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Poster from 2016 annual meeting of the Medical Library Association
![Letters from the Big House: Providing Consumer Health
Reference for Texas PrisonsEmily Couvillon, MSIS
BACKGROUND
Legal: case or docket info
Disease: consumer level disease info
Drug: medication or side effect info
Literature search: research articles
or reports on health topics
Policy: info on prison standards for
food, quality, or treatment
Out of scope: requests for legal or
medical advice
Inappropriate: request for sexual or
pornographic material
Referral: contact info of other
agencies
Multidisciplinary nature of OOS questions
suggest prison reference service could be
improved by working more closely with legal
and governmental organizations
OBJECTIVE
METHODS
Identify top health information needs
of inmates using mail health reference service.
Develop initial coding scheme of key
concepts
Test codes on sample set of 10 letters
Refine codes based on input from two coders
Apply codes to entire set of 212 letters
received between 20102016
Identify key themes
Codes
RESULTS CONCLUSIONS
“I have little hope of justice and
even less money… you [are] my
only hope.”
EXCERPTS
"I think they are trying to postpone the treatments because
of $; or they are trying to prolong the window closure
criteria until I exceed the limit on treatment. In other words,
they are intentionally stalling until my Hep C is beyond
treatment.”
"T.D.C. medical
has refused to
treat [my Hepatitis
C] for 13 years.”
“It is necessary to
do our own research
without access to a
computer.”
"You have been very helpful. In
here it is very hard to receive an
honest answer from our medical
staff."
Consumer Health Information
Majority of letters requested basic drug or
disease info and fell within scope of service
Prisoner consumerlevel health info needs
are being adequately covered with
resources like MedlinePlus
Distrust of Prison Health System
Advanced and Legal Health Information
Out of scope (OOS) requests for test result
interpretation, diagnosis, or drug
recommendations suggest some advanced
info needs are unmet within health system
OOS requests for interpretation of sexual
assault examination reports imply efforts to
use health info as legal defense
Some info needs require more legal and
medical expertise than librarians can provide
Requests for prison environmental health
regulations highlight suspicions regarding
sanitation and food safety
Direct statements of distrust suggest that info
sources within prison are considered
unreliable
Room for Improvement
Adela Justice, MSLS, AHIP
Inmates in 45 prisons across Texas request
consumer health information via the TMC Library
U.S. mail program.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/pfml656qtk39qywqregg-signature-3c3b5bbb73c48bd87985174cb584100d34a15f4cea70ff727d3e176a0bbd2cfc-poli-170517192859/85/Letters-from-the-big-house-providing-consumer-health-reference-for-texas-prisons-final-1-320.jpg)
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Letters from the big house providing consumer health reference for texas prisons final
- 1. Letters from the Big House: Providing Consumer Health Reference for Texas PrisonsEmily Couvillon, MSIS BACKGROUND Legal: case or docket info Disease: consumer level disease info Drug: medication or side effect info Literature search: research articles or reports on health topics Policy: info on prison standards for food, quality, or treatment Out of scope: requests for legal or medical advice Inappropriate: request for sexual or pornographic material Referral: contact info of other agencies Multidisciplinary nature of OOS questions suggest prison reference service could be improved by working more closely with legal and governmental organizations OBJECTIVE METHODS Identify top health information needs of inmates using mail health reference service. Develop initial coding scheme of key concepts Test codes on sample set of 10 letters Refine codes based on input from two coders Apply codes to entire set of 212 letters received between 20102016 Identify key themes Codes RESULTS CONCLUSIONS “I have little hope of justice and even less money… you [are] my only hope.” EXCERPTS "I think they are trying to postpone the treatments because of $; or they are trying to prolong the window closure criteria until I exceed the limit on treatment. In other words, they are intentionally stalling until my Hep C is beyond treatment.” "T.D.C. medical has refused to treat [my Hepatitis C] for 13 years.” “It is necessary to do our own research without access to a computer.” "You have been very helpful. In here it is very hard to receive an honest answer from our medical staff." Consumer Health Information Majority of letters requested basic drug or disease info and fell within scope of service Prisoner consumerlevel health info needs are being adequately covered with resources like MedlinePlus Distrust of Prison Health System Advanced and Legal Health Information Out of scope (OOS) requests for test result interpretation, diagnosis, or drug recommendations suggest some advanced info needs are unmet within health system OOS requests for interpretation of sexual assault examination reports imply efforts to use health info as legal defense Some info needs require more legal and medical expertise than librarians can provide Requests for prison environmental health regulations highlight suspicions regarding sanitation and food safety Direct statements of distrust suggest that info sources within prison are considered unreliable Room for Improvement Adela Justice, MSLS, AHIP Inmates in 45 prisons across Texas request consumer health information via the TMC Library U.S. mail program.