Chronicity and primary care: the role of prison health

The Prison Primary Health Care Teams in Catalonia have been integrated into the Catalan Health Institute. This integration shall facilitate¹ training and updating, while eliminating the existing differences between the health services belonging to prison institutions and those of the Catalan Health Service. It shall enable team work and coordination between Primary Health Care Teams in the community and the PHCTs in prisons within the same geographical area by sharing ongoing training, multi-sector work teams and territory-based relations, thereby facilitating continuance in care and complete and integrated treatment of chronicity. The existing information systems in Primary Health Care and the shared clinical history in Catalonia are key factors for this follow up process. Support tools for clinical decision making shall also be shared, which shall contribute towards an increase in quality and clinical safety. These tools include electronic clinical practice guides, therapeutic guides, prescription alert systems, etc. This shall be an opportunity for Prison Health Care Teams to engage in teaching and research, which in turn shall have an indirect effect on improvements in health care quality and the training of professionals in this sector. The critical factor for success is the fact that a unique chronicity health care model shall be shared, where measures for health promotion prevention can be taken, along with multi-sector monitoring of pathologies and with health care information shared between professionals and levels throughout the patient's life, both in and out of the prison environment