Open AccessUndergraduate students’ perspectives on the impact of a prison health course
Author(s) -
Rose B. Cameron,
Katherine McLeod,
Leeann Donnelly,
Jane A. Buxton,
Ruth Elwood Martin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
health education journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1748-8176
pISSN - 0017-8969
DOI - 10.1177/00178969211008954
Subject(s) - prison , feeling , stigma (botany) , qualitative research , psychology , photovoice , compassion , medical education , medicine , social psychology , criminology , sociology , psychiatry , political science , social science , law , economics , economic growth
Objective: The stigmatisation of incarceration has significant negative effects on the health and well-being of individuals and communities. At the University of British Columbia in Canada, an undergraduate course on prison health included instruction by people with lived experience of incarceration as part of a teaching approach aimed to reduce stigma. In this study, we sought to understand the impact of this course as described by students.Design: Qualitative interviews with students who completed the course in 2017 were conducted by another former student of the course. Interviews were transcribed and interpretive descriptive methods were used to elucidate findings.Results: Nine former students participated in the study, eight (89%) were women and the median age was 23 years. Analysis yielded the following themes: (1) learning from people with lived experience, (2) de-mystifying through knowledge and understanding, (3) broadened perspectives and self-reflection, (4) future choices and actions and (5) changing views on incarceration.Conclusion: Findings suggest that approaches to address stigma in teaching prison health in an undergraduate course provided students with a deepened understanding of health inequities and determinants of health; increased feelings of compassion and interest in health equity for populations impacted by incarceration; and fostered opportunities for reflection, critical thinking and broadened perspectives.