Penitentiary (mental) health reform: developing a training programme

The importance of good (mental) health care in prisons cannot be overemphasised. Prisoners often have complex health histories and may have limited access to medical care. It is therefore crucial that prison staff are properly trained to understand and address the health needs of detainees. A team at SUPRB is developing a new and multi-faceted blended learning training package specifically designed for staff in our prisons. This will include a range of key topics including (motivational) interviewing drug prevention harm reduction drug policy suicide prevention combating stigma and much more. The offer will be made available to staff at five French-speaking and five Dutch-speaking Belgian prisons in the form of online (e-learning) modules real-life training sessions and hands-on tools. This is a research project of the Substance use and Psychosocial Risk Behaviours research centre.