The extent and consequences of continuity of care for prisoners with serious mental illness: A systematic review with a narrative synthesis

This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the literature concerning continuity of care for people released from prison or jail with serious mental illness. Sixteen papers were included in the review. The review addresses two research questions: the extent to which people continue to access mental healthcare following release, and the impact of interventions designed to improve continuity of care on mental health and criminal justice outcomes. Descriptive studies indicated that post-release engagement with community mental health services still requires improvement. Expedited Medicaid programmes improved enrolment and use of outpatient and prescription services but did not impact significantly on use of psychiatric services. Impact on criminal justice outcomes was variable. The remaining papers reported on a diverse range of interventions, and we can tentatively conclude that effective interventions for improving mental health and justice outcomes are likely to be intensive, multicomponent, and must start pre-release.