Catalan contribution in the European project MEntally Disturbed Inmates Care and Support (MEDICS)

ABSTRACT Objective To know the criteria of penitentiary professionals about the causes, management methods and improvement proposal, in the attention and care of inmates suffering non-serious mental disorders. Material and methods Activity developed from March to May 2015. In Catalonia, three prisons participated. Seven different models of anonymous and written questionnaires were distributed, designed by Italy, and aimed at directors, treatment teams, correctional officers, teachers, doctors, nursing staff and volunteers. They presented the degree of participation, descriptive characteristics of groups and main answers given. To study the association between qualitative variables, the Chi squared and the exact Fisher test was used. Results Questionnaires distributed among the 744 employees and there were obtained 174 filled (23.4%). There was more participation among health staff and treatment teams (88% and 36%). About the age of participants, doctors were the most senior group with meaningful differences (p