• Stop Shackling Patients: A Petition to Humanize the Care of Incarcerated Patients at Boston Medical Center

    Author(s):
    Judy D. Wang, Nisha Mathur, Neil Singh Bedi (see profile)
    Editor(s):
    George Annas, Sondra Crosby
    Date:
    2023
    Item Type:
    Essay
    Tag(s):
    #healthcare, health policy, human rights, incarceration, medical advocacy, public health, restraint use, shackling
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/3sc0-ne02
    Abstract:
    This scholarly work, written by Neil Singh Bedi, Nisha Mathur, and Judy D. Wang, under the mentorship of Professors Sondra Crosby and George Annas, and with the support of members of the Stop Shackling Patients Coalition, compiles a series of arguments against the routine shackling of patients who are incarcerated while they receive healthcare in American hospitals. As medical students, NSB, NM, and JDW had a unique opportunity to collaborate with Boston Medical Center, their primary teaching institution, the largest trauma center in New England, and a nationally renowned health system that is dedicated towards achieving health equity, in changing their policy regarding care for patients who are incarcerated. Written and launched on the 5th of February, 2022, this petition launched a national discussion to understand and change one of the many concerns about how this patient population is treated: namely, the use of shackles as restraints in healthcare setting. In response to the robust discussion incited by this campaign, the Stop Shackling Patients Coalition (SSP) was founded. SSP is a task force and learning collaborative of health professionals, human rights advocates, and policymakers driven to raise the quality of care provided to incarcerated individuals by bringing an end to universal shackling. As of February 2023, Boston Medical Center amended its existing policy for the care of patients who are incarcerated, in response to this petition, and in collaboration with the Directors of SSP. Working directly with executive leadership, clinical leaders, the Office of the General Counsel, and public safety, authors NSB, NM, and JDW helped to develop and implement a revised policy that enables healthcare providers to not only assess whether patients who are incarcerated meet special circumstances (e.g. quadriplegia, sedation, or palliative care), but also to advocate for shackle removal.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    4 months ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial
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