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Promoting Health Literacy with Young Adult Men in an English Prison

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Issues and Innovations in Prison Health Research

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

This chapter outlines a health literacy framework to explore the prison as a place for supporting health and wellbeing and draws upon findings from a doctoral research project within a single English prison for young adults. Health literacy describes the ‘cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health’ (WHO, 7th global conference on health promotion, 2009). Through a series of mixed-methods studies, the chapter highlights the numerous individual, social and structural barriers faced by young men in prison to develop their health literacy, but also reveals the ways they attempt to reclaim some control over their physical, mental and emotional needs. The chapter further presents a group-based model for strengthening health literacy, highlighting what could be achieved to support more health-literate environments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    see www.thebiggerpicture.org.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, London, UK

    Anita Mehay

  2. Department of Law and Criminology, Royal Holloway University of London, Surrey, UK

    Rosie Meek

  3. University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    Jane Ogden

Authors
  1. Anita Mehay
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  2. Rosie Meek
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  3. Jane Ogden
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Correspondence to Anita Mehay .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universtiy of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Matthew Maycock

  2. Royal Holloway University of London, Surrey, Berkshire, UK

    Rosie Meek

  3. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    James Woodall

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Mehay, A., Meek, R., Ogden, J. (2021). Promoting Health Literacy with Young Adult Men in an English Prison. In: Maycock, M., Meek, R., Woodall, J. (eds) Issues and Innovations in Prison Health Research. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46401-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46401-1_3

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