Prisons

Future Vision -  Prison outreach project

The risk of suffering from an eating disorder is raised for people in stressful environments and where there is pressure, isolation and an increased rate of change. Women in prison are often far away from family, and bullying in prisons is very common. Prisoners suddenly feel that they have lost control of simple decisions, food is often the only controlling factor they have left.

The First Steps Prison project will aim to:
  • Deliver general awareness training to local prison staff to promote understanding and aid recovery
  • Give support to young women in prison who suffer from eating disorders, helping to reduce the prevalence of eating disorders, and related self harm incidents.
  • Provide support and information to friends and families of prisoners
  • Assist with the set up and maintenance of a self help group for prisoners.
  • Provide information and literature.
  • Develop support for prisoners returning to the community.
  • Evaluate and monitor the project.
Investigations show that women in prisons self harm 14 times more than males in prisons. When we reflect that eating disorders can be considered to be another form of self harm, we see the importance of providing specific support.
We aim to combine the knowledge and expertise of health professionals, prisons staff, statutory and voluntary organisations to develop a model of self help support within prisons.