The Health Provision and Health Needs of the Male Inmates

This qualitative research intended to assess the services provided by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to the male inmates of Cagayan de Oro City Jail specially in terms of food, water, facilities, seminars and trainings and medical services, identify their health needs and lastly to know the gaps and challenges that the inmates encountered while inside the institution. The respondents of this study were 20 mixed inmates of Lumbia City Jail with one year and above confinement in the institution. The respondents were said to be drawn from the population through convenience sampling. Interviews were done during the time were the inmates are free from their duties. The researchers then noted all the responses of the inmates. All data are interpreted and analyzed based on their frequency and rank. With regards to the outcome of this study, researchers concluded that Lumbia City Jail has conformed to the UN Standard of Minimum Treatment of Prisoners. However, their implementation of it is not adequate to meet the prisoners need. The said institution needs to have improvement specially provision of the basic needs of the inmates like the food, water and resting place. The researchers also concluded that the prisoners common health needs inside the jail were more of personal hygiene like washing and bathing soap, toothpastes and deodorant. Second to that is the adequacy in terms of water supply and then the improvement of the food. Lacking and inadequate soaps for bathing and washing purposes, toothpastes and shampoo, adequate and continuous supply of water, non-spacious resting place, improvement in terms of food and lack of significant others visitation are seen to be the prisoner’s most common gaps and challenges encountered. Based on the conclusion and findings of this study, recommendations are highly centered on the institutions full compliance with prison’s requirements or to find a means to come close with the prisons requirements as imposed by the UN Standard of Minimum Treatment of Prisoners. Improving the basic needs of the inmates like the food, water and resting place should be given more emphasis or has to be a priority.

 

Keywords - health provision, health needs, male inmates