Correctional officers in HIV/AIDS care in the prison system: A literature review

Abstract

Objective: To analyze correctional officers' role in HIV/AIDS care in the prison system. Methods: This is a narrative literature review, whose bibliographical search was carried out using controlled and free vocabularies, derived from the words “correctional officer” and HIV/AIDS. The survey was carried out in the LILACS, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus, Academic Search Premier and SocINDEX databases using the Boolean operators AND and OR. Studies published in Portuguese, English and Spanish that answered the study's guiding question were included. Duplicate articles, those that did not answer the study question and secondary studies were excluded. Results: A total of 3,036 publications were retrieved that went through three selection stages, which resulted in nine studies included in the review. Four main roles played by correctional officers in HIV/AIDS care in the prison system were identified: regulation of access to medical services; collaboration and performance of HIV transmission prevention activities in prisons such as condom distribution; carrying out health education actions; monitoring inmates in consultations, examinations and admissions outside the prison; and drug replacement planning. Conclusion: Correctional officers are expected to assist healthcare professionals in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, referral and monitoring of inmates to care within and outside the prison system, distribution of condoms, carrying out health education actions and help in forecasting of medicines.