Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (May 2024)
Implementing Interventions for Women and Youth with Traumatic Brain Injury at Transition from Custodial Settings: A Call to Action
Abstract
Flora I Matheson,1,2 Arthur McLuhan,1 Jessica Salley Riccardi,3 Amanda Kirby,4 Tom M McMillan5 1MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 3Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA; 4School of Education, University of South Wales, Wales, UK; 5School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UKCorrespondence: Flora I Matheson, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond St, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada, Tel +1-416-400-5641, Email [email protected]: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health concern and overrepresented among justice-involved populations. An emerging area of research focuses on the complex, interrelated and unmet health and social needs of justice-involved women and youth with TBI. Evidence of these needs continues to grow, yet the health and justice systems continue to underperform in supporting the health and social care of justice-involved women and youth. This commentary is a call to action to begin to redress these gaps. We first provide an overview of the needs of women and youth with TBI that affect their transition from custody to community, including those related to victimization, trauma, mental health, substance use, and homelessness. We then highlight the current gaps in knowledge and practice with respect to interventions for women and youth with TBI at transition from custody. The available evidence for the impact of interventions on people with head injury who are justice-involved is sparse, especially studies of interventions focused on women and youth. We conclude with a call for implementation science studies to support translation from research to practice, emphasizing that researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and women and youth at transition should collaborate to develop, implement, and evaluate accommodations and interventions for TBI. To have meaningful, positive impacts on the systems that serve these women and youth, interdisciplinary service delivery approaches should aim to prevent, raise awareness, identify, and provide timely support and services for the varied needs of women and youth with TBI in transition.Keywords: traumatic brain injury, criminal justice system, women, youth, reentry
