A recent New York Times article looks at a growing problem within the modern prison system. An aging prison popluation – with many inmates who are uneducated, dealing with depression, and the products of years of rough living – is now facing an increasing number of cases of dementia. Prisons are ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of dealing with the medical needs of these inmates, and external care facilities are are unwilling to accept them.
Due in part to reduced funding, many states are unable to provide separate units with professional caregivers to tend to these inmates. However, some states like California are taking a more controversial, cost-effective approach to care – they are training other inmates to serve their vulnerable cellmates.
Despite being viewed by some inmates as “snitches” who receive special treatment for their services (inmate assistants receive $50.00 a month for their services), these “Gold Coats” (identifiable by their different-colored prison uniforms) have been instrumental in protecting their fellow inmates with dementia from predators within the prison walls, as well as taking care of basic needs like hygiene.
“[The inmate assistants] were much easier to work with,” says Arlene Stepputat, former director of the Gold Coat program, when comparing these trainees to those outside the prison walls. Stepputat says that the lack of personal entanglements and emotional ties to the patients was a large reason for the program’s success.
Inmate participants also say they have benefited from the program. They say they appreciate being given the responsibility, and that others outside the prison thought they were capable of providing adequate care. “Thank you for allowing me to feel human,” one inmate wrote in an evaluation.
The full story (with video) is available here.