Controversies in Correctional End-of-Life Care

Abstract

Having emerged in the mid-1980s in response to the AIDS epidemic, correctional end-of-life care programs are evolving and expanding at a steady pace. Along with the success of correctional end-of-life care, a number of prickly issues have emerged that challenge the view that hospice can or should be provided inside correctional institutions. These issues include the relationship between correctional hospice programs and compassionate release, inmate decision-making about end-of-life care, the use of hospice-trained inmate volunteers, and the maintenance of confidentiality within the correctional setting. This article presents the GRACE Project’s findings about end-of-life care in corrections and addresses these issues.