The Accessibility to Health Services and the End-of-Life Desires of Elderly Inmates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61462/cujss.v55i1.3105Keywords:
Elderly Inmates, Prison, End of Life, Palliative Care, MultidisciplinaryAbstract
The purpose of this article is to study the state of health services and the Thai correctional system's accessibility to palliative care, under various conditions based on human rights, inmate rights, supportive care and treatment concepts, and the international regulatory framework and national laws. It also aims to study the approach of health services in the dimension of end-of-life care. The needs of elderly inmates in prisons and methods for dealing with death in prison through the Thai correctional system, which has various multidisciplinary teams that come to provide services to inmates in the end-of-life period with inmates. This study is based on qualitative research. The findings show that the living conditions of sick inmates face difficulties in prison, resulting in them being easily exposed to illness. The prison environment is not compatible with the elderly. However, elderly prisoners at the end of their lives in prison receive international standard medical services comparable to treatment in general hospitals outside of prison, due to a multidisciplinary team with expertise. There is also an online visiting service for terminally ill inmates in prison. The desire at the end of the life of inmates in prison is to “go home,” which is considered an important discovery and the last hope before dying.
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