Reforming Massachusetts Prison Healthcare
Although prison healthcare has been undergoing reformations, inadequate healthcare still plagues many public prisons in Massachusetts. The purpose of this research is to determine how Massachusetts’ public prisons can use reforms to eliminate the healthcare disparities in their incarcerated populations. Alongside this, it examines Massachusetts’ previous reforms and their success rate. Pursuing this question matters because it will decrease prison mortality rates, as well as increase awareness of the current state of healthcare. Both of which lead to better overall public health. This research's charts, images, and statistics are best represented in an infographic. As a future criminal justice employee one is required to get vital information to the public in a fast yet informative manner, and an infographic does precisely that. This research topic was explored by examining journals, articles, and dissertations. Each of these sources provides key data supporting the claim that healthcare in public Massachusetts prisons should be reformed. In tackling the problem of inadequate healthcare in public Massachusetts prisons, this research will inspire reforms initiated by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. These reforms matter because not only will they improve public health relations outside of prisons, but the overall health climate as well. If inmates are treated adequately while incarcerated, they will have a positive impact on the health of non-incarcerated populations.