ADC fairs draw healthy crowds

Agency, partners teach inmates better lifestyle choices

October 19, 2006

Formed into a loose line stretching 30 yards back, orange-clad inmates smile and chat, patiently waiting their turns at the checkup station to be weighed and measured and have their blood pressures read.

Nearly 500 inmates participated in the Arizona Department of Corrections health fairs. During the all-day events October 18 and 19 at ASPC-Florence/North Unit and ASPC-Eyman/Cook Unit. They viewed displays, spoke to health experts and received pamphlets about a variety of health concerns.

“At most of our health fairs, the line to sign up is huge,” ADC Health Education Program Administrator Maureen Fitzpatrick said. “It takes about 45 minutes to an hour for each inmate to go through. They keep coming all throughout the day.”

Health fairs focus on prevention of chronic illnesses affecting inmates, with topics including staphylococcus infection, TB, hepatitis, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. On-site counselors teach inmates how better choices make for better living.

“Health Fairs are one component of the Health Education Program designed to support improved quality of life through the promotion of chronic and communicable disease management and prevention,” ADC Health Services Bureau Administrator Dr. Dennis Kendall said. “The goal is to positively impact inmate commitment to personal accountability and responsibility for behavior and decision making that has long-term effects on mental and physical health and wellness.”

Other conditions addressed included hand washing, heart disease, cholesterol, anti-smoking, dental hygiene, STDs, nutrition, asthma, cancer and osteoporosis. Inmates and staff alike may benefit from the wide range of topics offered.

At one station, attendees learn a valuable lesson about proper hand washing as they apply fluorescent glitter lotion to their hands, wash them with soap and water, and then take a look under black light. Inmates and staff alike are surprised to learn what it takes to get really clean when they see the glowing remnants of lotion still clinging to fingernails and freshly scrubbed hands.

At another station, inmates line up to hold a small, handlebar-like electronic device, which precisely measures body fat percentage. While they wait turns, a dietician tells them about the benefits of proper diet. Participants in another line cluster join in an interactive video health quiz.

“Cue ‘em up and talk to them while they wait,” said Ms. Fitzpatrick, explaining the strategy. Compelling photos of infected tattoos and smoldering spider bites or plastic bags filled with the preserved remains of cigarette-polluted human lungs never fail to draw a crowd. Once there, it is for the health pros to draw inmates into useful discussions or sign them up for health classes.

ADC’s Partners in Health

As participants elbow past the various and colorful displays, few escape the attention of Ana Maria Branham of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, whose unbounded enthusiasm and sincere intensity compels inmates to cluster round her all day. Ms. Branham preaches the word on preventing hepatitis.

Thanks to a grant from the federal Center for Disease Control, MCDPH has joined ADC at the health fairs to help combat HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C, which studies indicate as a top health concerns for incarcerated populations and the general public. Inmates are especially vulnerable to communicable disease and – since 97 percent of inmates will be released and the average stay of those is three years or less – better prevention is important to the whole community.

The grant-funded hepatitis C peer educator program provides MCDPH educators who train inmate peer educators in a pilot program at the Perryville and Lewis prison complexes. These inmate-educators work within the walls to teach others about preventing and managing the chronic disease. And the inmates often make better teachers, Ms. Branham said.

“Staff are sometimes seen with skepticism,” Ms. Branham said. “But peer educators speak the same language, they have the same experiences. That is why we have had more success.”

ADC program staff work closely with MCDPH to choose up to 20 peer mentors per unit. Inmates are carefully selected for dependability, knowledge of the material and outgoing personality before undergoing a 40-hour training class, testing and annual reevaluation. Once trained, the peer educators receive no pay.

“The more the COIIIs and wardens are involved, the more success we see in those units,” Ms. Branham added.

Pinal County also partners with ADC and Jan Vidimos, program coordinator for the Pinal County Tobacco Use Prevention Program, spoke to inmates about the dangers of smoking. She registered 126 inmates for the county’s six-week anti-smoking class at Florence and Eyman over two days.

“What we were able to accomplish there in just a brief amount of time was incredible,” Ms. Vidimos said. “I have seen with my own eyes the gratitude of the inmates involved in the health fairs. Each one stopped by to learn all they could and ask questions.”

Other ADC partners include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Lupus Foundation, the Arizona Heart Association, TERROS Behavioral Health Services, the Diabetes Education Association of Central Arizona, the University of Arizona Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Department of Health Services and departments of public health in Pima, Yuma, Apache and Cochise counties. Partners sign on because inmate audiences are receptive and agencies recognize the opportunity to make a positive impact.

“We are getting more and more health partners coming on board,” said Ms. Fitzpatrick. “Once they come, they really enjoy the inmates and how appreciative they are. They know their efforts can really make difference.”

When the health fair program began last year, the goal was to put on one event each month. But as interest and attendance have grown, ADC now aims to present twice-a-year health fairs at each of its ten prison complexes. ADC Health Services looks forward to continuing its efforts throughout the state to improve the health of inmates and staff and save money for the agency and the taxpayers.