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Returning to society after incarceration would, of course, be challenging for anyone, but the difficulties only multiply for older men and women coming out of prison. Amna Nawaz reports on the many hurdles these individuals can face after decades behind bars.How you doing, Dr. Shavit?Good. How's it going ? So how's the fatigue been？Are you still feeling pretty tired？Yes, I still am.Malcolm is 74 years old. He suffers from degenerative rheumatoid arthritis and prostate cancer.I'm just going to take a quick listen to your heart.Diseases he developed while serving 38 years in prison for murder and robbery. He was released just three months ago, and, so far, life on the outside hasn't been easy.
What are some of the challenges that you're facing day to day？Handling things on your own.Generally, incarcerated, everything is handled for you. Your medication is brought to you. You're told when to eat. You're told when you put a -- when to sleep. Things are more or less programmed for you. Once you come out, you have to do things on your own. And it's pretty hard. And it's pretty hard to get used to doing that.Go head and relax your arm for me, please. He says the health care he's getting now is much better than what he got in prison, but nearly four decades behind bars has taken a toll. I have the degenerative rheumatoid arthritis, as you can see by my hands. And I'm going to have, I think, knee surgery. And my feet are really -- are really bad.
Did anything else come up in your visits with him today？Dr. Shavit says Malcolm is a typical patient here at Transitions, a national network of nearly 50 nonprofit health clinics that serve people post-incarceration.Our practice here, 66 percent of people have done 30 or more years in the state prison system. And what we know is that people age more quickly when they're incarcerated.And so when we think of older adults, we actually think of people who are 55 and older who have been in the system.Twenty years ago, people 55 and older made up just 3 percent of the U.S. prison population. Today, that's grown to more than 10 percent. One major reason？ Tough-on-crime policies dating back to the 1990s that led to longer prison sentences.So when people come out of prison or jail, everything's kind of all up in the air at the same time. But it's even more difficult for older adults. People have been apart from the community for longer. They have less connections in the community, less social supports and have more challenges in addressing some of their needs.The team here at Transitions tries to step in and meet the most pressing needs, not just medical.
That's why you have that little phone icon.There's technology training.How you doing？Help getting I.D.s and documentation...They didn't put my middle name on the I.D. card.And access to food.We also got some chicken too.Yes, chicken is OK too.A key part of this team？People who know what reentry after prison is like, people like 58-year-old Ron Sanders. He battled addiction and was in and out of prison during his 20s on drug charges. So, imagine somebody's been locked up for 20, 30, 40 years. It's good to have somebody to help you guide you along.
Is this your first time going to Walgreens to get the medications？ No, this is not the first time, but it's the first time I'm going to get a refill.He's been working at Transitions for 15 years as a community health worker, and spends a lot of time building connections and trust with patients often skeptical of the system.Why do you think they trust you?Because they know I came from the same place they came from. I have been in those shoes before. And I know. And, also, I know how scary it is just getting out. And especially when you get out and you don't have any, like, family support or anything, it's really tough. But for older adults exiting prison, this level of support is rare.Few clinics like this exist across the country. And the ones that do are often located in urban areas. For people who need longer-term medical care, the options are even more limited.Being away for a while, I was really scared.
Leticia is a 67 year-old woman who suffers from mental health disorders and lymphedema, which causes swelling of the arms and legs. She served 17 years in prison for murder. She asked us not to use her last name.I have PTSD, and I had deep depression, and I was very, very disturbed. In 2019, she was released from prison, and discharged to 60 West, a privately-owned nursing home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, with 95 beds. Opened in 2013, 60 West is funded mainly by the state of Connecticut and its Medicaid system. Many residents here are formerly incarcerated.
