Staff wellness

Abstract The physical and emotional well-being of custodial and health care staff who work in correctional facilities is critical for providing safe care for incarcerated persons. However, the structural, operational, clinical, and political environment in jails and prisons presents significant challenges to promoting and maintaining staff wellness and, more frequently, contributes to the high rates of injury, illness, and burnout among the staff who are willing to care for, and are passionate about, the health and safety of individuals in custody. Despite these challenges, increasing efforts are underway to improve the work environment through more humane approaches to incarceration, policies that promote staff well-being, and increased support from professional organizations. The first part of this chapter will review the risks to employee wellness in jails and prisons, and the second part will summarize systemic, institutional, and individual interventions that have been shown to, or have the potential to, reduce those risks.