Women’s health needs in and out of prison

Today I’m inspired by the commentary of four amazing women who have decided to do very challenging work in challenging contexts.  Amber Christie, Dulce Feder and Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin presented on a panel together at PWN’s annual SpringBoard conference last Thursday.  They all work in some capacity in research and healthcare delivery for women in the prison system.  Maxine Davis is the Executive Director of Dr. Peter Centre, which operates a residence providing intensive, 24-hour nursing care for previously homeless people with a combination of severe mental health and addiction issues.  Her recently published piece in the Vancouver Sun highlights the need for this kind of supportive housing.  These two areas of work are not directly related, but one of the main health challenges faced by incarcerated women is also a key hurdle facing the Dr. Peter Centre residents, and that is the lack of adequate supported housing and healthcare when they either get out of prison or get off the streets.  In both cases, the lack of housing and care keeps these women and men coming back – to the streets, to prison, and to the hospital.

Dulce Feder is the Nurse Clinician at Oak Tree clinic and she coordinates the outreach HIV care visits to Alouette Correctional Centre for Women (ACCW) in Maple Ridge, BC.  Amber Christie and Dr. Elwood Martin work together on the Women In2 Healing project, which seeks “the empowerment of women inside and outside of prison in their emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual healing through the participatory research process”.  They are also involved in Doing Time, a participatory research project which supports ACCW women to develop an “Action Health Strategy” to try to keep them connected to services and care after they are released.  And here’s what really struck me.  When asked about their health, incarcerated women were most concerned NOT about nutrition, doctor’s visits and dental checkups, but about housing and relationships, especially relationships with their children.  This speaks volumes for the need to approach women’s health differently.  For many many women, our lives and our very sense of wellness and being are tied to our families, and in particular to our children.  This is a completely foreign notion in traditional corrections. 

I read the story in 2008 about the ACCW’s mother-baby program being cut, and I felt sad for the mothers and babies that would be separated.  I recognized it as a regressive step for the women, but it was Amber Christie’s words last Thursday night that really struck a cord.  “Babies change everything,” she said.  This is the most obvious, common-sense truth that nobody in their right mind could possibly deny, but it brought tears to my eyes.  “Having those babies around changed all of the women – not just the mothers”.  Real health and wellness is about so much more than nutrition and medicine and we have much to learn from these women who are working and living “on the front lines”.

-Miriam

This was posted on Friday, April 30th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Daily Moments, Spiritual and Emotional Health . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.

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