NCJ Number
139294
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 54 Issue: 7 Dated: (October 1992) Pages: 116-118,120
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The AIDS Risk Reduction Program developed at the Worcester County (MA) Jail and House of Correction may serve as a national model and has helped stimulate the development of a national clearinghouse of educational resources for correctional administrators and inmates.
Abstract
Testing and treatment following a hepatitis outbreak led to the discovery of HIV infection and concern about how to educate inmates about AIDS prevention. In September 1987, Dr. John Sullivan of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center met with staff members and offered to set up an infectious disease education program at the facility for staff and inmates. The program centers on 2 education sessions per week, attended by 15-40 inmates. A video is followed by a question-and-answer period conducted by community-based, bilingual medical personnel. Health care staff who specialize in drug treatment also discuss available services. In addition, inmates who are infected or who have loved ones who are HIV-positive have volunteered to speak at the education sessions. Some of the people involved in setting up the program also helped set up the National Incarcerated AIDS Network, which was incorporated this summer and provides instructional written and video materials at no charge to county, State, and Federal correctional facilities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Photographs