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with difficulties integrating back into society since federal, state, and local laws may prohibit ex-convicts from receiving public housing benefits (Urban Institute 2004). Latino men reentering their communities are faced with a series of structural barriers—including poverty, stigma and discrimination, homelessness or inadequate housing, unemployment or unstable employment, limited education and educational opportunities, exposure to violence, and barriers to appropriate health and social services—which limit their opportunities for economic mobility. These hurdles impact adversely on the health and well-being of the offender, the family of the offender, and the community to which the offender returns, exacerbating existent racial/ethnic health disparities. Correctional health services present an opportunity to provide a holistic approach to mental and physical health and substance use treatment and prevention , as opposed to the independent provision of services that are usually provided in the community (Freudenberg 2001; Glaser and Greifinger 1993). However, despite the Supreme Court affirmation of inmates’ constitutional right to medical care (Estelle v. Gamble [429 U.S. 97, 104–105 (1976)]), inmates’ right to access to proper medical care seems to be restricted due to the security and coercive nature of the correctional system, inadequate medical resources allocated to inmates, and refusal of community providers to care for inmates (because they are perceived as dangerous, unclean, and a prisoner rather than a patient) (Glaser and Greifinger 1993). Interventions within the correctional health care system incorporating vocational training and health care services, as well as linkages with community agencies, are vital to promoting successful reentry into communities and reducing and preventing the spread of disease among populations. Effective health care in correctional facilities provides an opportunity, often the only one, to positively impact the quality of life of inmates, their families, and their communities. References Adimora, A. A., and V. J. Schoenbach. 2005. Social context, sexual networks, and racial disparities in rates of sexually transmitted infections. Journal of Infectious Diseases 191 (suppl 1): S115–122. ———. 2002. Contextual factors and the black-white disparity in heterosexual HIV transmission . Epidemiology 13 (6): 707–712. Adimora, A. A., V. J. Schoenbach, I. A. Doherty. 2006. HIV and African Americans in the southern United States: Sexual networks and social context. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 33 (7 suppl): S39–45. Adimora, A. A., V. J. Schoenbach, F. E. Martinson, T. Coyne-Beasley, I. Doherty, T. R. Stancil, and R. E. Fullilove. 2006. Heterosexually transmitted HIV infection among African Americans in North Carolina. Journal of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 41 (5): 616–23. 154 Arévalo, Bécares, and Amaro Adimora, A. A., V. J. Schoenbach, F. Martinson, K. H. Donaldson, T. R. Stancil, and R. E. Fullilove. 2004. Concurrent sexual partnerships among African Americans in the rural south. Annals of Epidemiology 14 (3): 155–160. Adimora, A. A., V. J. Schoenbach, F. E. Martinson, K. H. Donaldson, R. E. Fullilove, and S. O. Aral. 2001. Social context of sexual relationships among rural African Americans. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 28 (2): 69–76. Adimora, A. A., V. J. Schoenbach, F. E. Martinson, K. H. Donaldson, T. R. Stancil, and R. E. Fullilove. 2003. Concurrent partnerships among rural African Americans with recently reported heterosexually transmitted HIV infection. Journal of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 34 (4): 423–429. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). 2005. National healthcare disparities report. AHRQ Publication No. 06–0017. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr05/nhdr05.htm. American Public Health Association (APHA). 2004. Racial/Ethnic Disparities. Fact sheets. http://www.apha.org/nphw/facts/RaceEth-PHW04_Facts.pdf. Binswanger, I. A., M. C. White, E. J. Perez-Stable, J. Goldenson, and J. Tulsky. 2005. Cancer screening among jail inmates: Frequency, knowledge, and willingness. American Journal of Public Health 95 (10): 1781–1785. Bonczar, T. P. 2003. Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974–2001. Bureau of Justice, Special Report, August, NCJ 197976. Caetano, R. 1990. Hispanic drinking in the US: Thinking in new directions. British Journal of Addiction 85: 1231–1236. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2004. Health disparities experienced by Hispanics—United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 53 (40): 935–937. Conklin, T. J., T. Lincoln, and T. P. Flanigan. 1998. A public health model to connect correctional health care with communities. American Journal of Public Health 88: 1249–1251. Conklin, T. J., T. Lincoln, and R. W. Tuthill. 2000. Self-reported health and prior health behaviors of newly admitted correctional inmates. American Journal of Public Health 90: 1939–1941. de la Rosa, M. R...

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