Improving Health and Wellbeing in Forth Valley Prisons

NHS Forth Valley have responsibility for health and wellbeing of people who are in prison custody.

We have 3 Scottish Prison Service establishments within Forth Valley NHS board area;

• HMP Glenochil
• HMP & YOI Cornton Vale
• HMYOI Polmont

In partnership with SPS and Health promotion we adopt a whole settings approach to health and wellbeing of people in custody. This is carried out within a framework of Better Health, Better Lives for Prisoners.

Benefits of a Healthier Prison

Improved health is associated with reduced re-offending outside prison. In particular improved mental health and physical health and tackling drug and alcohol misuse are two of nine key factors known to reduce offending. Other factors include housing, employment, education and training.

‘Better Health, Better Lives’ sets out a range of measures to increase the health of those in custody by taking a healthy settings approach to;

• Creating a healthy working, living and learning environment
• Integrating health into the core business and routine life of the setting
• Contribute to the health and wellbeing of the wider community
• Policies in prison which promote health (eg a no smoking policy)
• An environment in each prison which is actively supportive of health
• Prevention, health education and other health promotion initiative which address health needs within each prison.

Health promotion support the development and implementation of a range of programmes to support the ‘pillars’ within the Better Health Better Lives Framework. Staff include: Senior and Health Promotion Officers, Community Dietetic Team, Oral Health Educators, who offer a range of expertise, training and resources to the 3 establishments across Forth Valley.

Some areas of work include:

• Implementation of Mouth Matters, the national oral health programme for prisons, which supports peer based education models.
• Oral health education sessions
• Accredited training courses for prisoners and staff around food and nutrition, including:
  • REHIS Cooking Skills
  • REHIS Food Hygiene
  • REHIS Food & Health (Nutrition)
• Support to Family Visitor Hubs around food, nutrition and oral health (e.g. Weaning, Childsmile)
• Support to SPS Catering Managers at national level
• Support to Health centre staff regarding special dietary requirements
• Work in partnership with SPS regarding health and wellbeing policy development

Get In Touch

You can get in touch with the team by completing our contact form