From custody to community: Connecting people back into healthcare services after prison

The period immediately after a person's release from prison can be particularly high-risk. It's a time when access to physical and mental health care, including substance-use treatment programs and social supports, is often interrupted. For those with lived experiences of this transition, continuity of care is seen as critical to support recovery, safety and a person’s ability to successfully re-establish their life in the community.

Our latest feature story, ‘From custody to community: connecting people back into healthcare services after prison’, brings together the lived expertise of Emily Cooper and the clinical perspective of GP Dr Juergen Landmann to examine what happens when people leave prison without clear pathways to ongoing healthcare, prescriptions, referrals or treatment. 

Their experiences show that the question is not whether an individual can successfully navigate a complex system. It is whether the system is designed to maintain care across transitions back into the community.

Across three Brisbane roundtable events held recently, people with lived experience of the prison system, clinicians, government agencies and community organisations have worked together to better understand these gaps within our local context and identify what future responses must consider. Click the button below to view the immersive story in a new tab.