The United States correctional system is facing an urgent crisis in how to meet the health care needs of its prisoners. As the number of inmates in correctional facilities increases, prisons struggle to adequately address health care needs in a financially feasible way. Many prisoners enter the system with medical problems that have gone unmet, and the toxic environments inside the prisons further compromise their health, causing serious problems both within the prisons themselves and in society as a whole when the prisoners are released. Health and Health Care in the Nation's Prisons presents a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the health care challenges facing today's prisons along with concrete recommendations for change.

In addition to an overview of the most common prison health care problems, this book provides a unique assessment of the needs of largely-overlooked prison populations, including women, people of color, and older adults. Authors Melvin Delgado and Denise Humm-Delgado cover high profile health care needs, such as substance abuse and mental illness, as well as lower profile needs like hepatitis and STDs. They also provide essential background information on the development of today's crisis by tracing the history of the U.S. health care system and how it has changed over time to meet social needs.

Melvin Delgado, MSW, PhD, is professor of social work at Boston University. He is the former chair of Macro Practice. He has over forty years of practice, research, and scholarship focused on urban population groups, specifically within the Latinx community. Delgado's research has addressed a variety of social issues and needs, and he has published over thirty books on urban community practice topics. He is currently the editor of the Oxford University book series on social justice and youth community practice. He is the author of Sanctuary Cities, Communities, and Organizations: A Nation at a Crossroads, Urban Youth Trauma: Using Community Intervention to Overcome Gun Violence, and many other books.