Dying with Dignity: Prisoners and Terminal Illness

During the past twenty years in Australia, there has been a developing concern about deaths in police and correctional custody. This article discusses a small but important component of deaths in correctional custody: the care of those prisoners in the terminal phase of a terminal illness. Hospice care in prison as well as in the community (achieved through compassionate release provisions) is discussed, and some of the problems with both strategies are identified. Two briefcase histories are discussed. The background to concern about dying prisoners is the aging of Australians in the community as well as those imprisoned, greater community awareness of issues dealing with loss and grief for the survivors of such deaths (through the work of state and territory coroners and support groups), and correctional agencies' becoming increasingly aware of their duty of care responsibilities.