Chief Investigator: Emma Plugge, Associate Professor of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine , University of Southampton  

Team:

University of Southampton 

- Donna Arrondelle, Research Fellow 

- Kathleen Kendall, Professor of Sociology as Applied to Medicine 

- Sara Morgan, Lecturer in Public Health 

- Julie Parkes, Professor Public Health

- James Raftery, Professor of Health Technology Assessment 

EP:IC

-Donna Gipson, Director

-Lucy Wainwright, Director 

Prison Reform Trust

-Paula Harriott, Head of Involvement 

Partners: University of Southampton, Dorset Council, Southampton City Council, HM Probation Services, South West, One Small Thing, Prison Reform Trust.

Start: 1 October 2024

End: 31 March 2026

Summary

This study will look at what happens to women’s health and wellbeing when they are being followed up by probation in the community, serving a ‘community sentence’. We will follow up these women in Dorset and we will compare any changes in wellbeing to changes in women from Hampshire who go to Hope Street on a community sentence. Hope Street is charity-funded residential care for women from Hampshire in contact with the criminal justice system; women live in special accommodation in the community where they are secure and where they are able to access a range of health and social care services. 

Women in contact with the criminal justice system are often from the poorest communities and they have many different health problems, particularly relating to their mental health. These health problems are often related to their crimes and so by making sure they get the services they need, this will help their health improve and benefit wider society by helping tackle crime. This study will ensure that this unique information is available to those who plan and deliver health services locally. 

The Southampton research team on this project are carrying out a 5-year evaluation of Hope Street. This means they can use the data that they are collecting as part of this evaluation on the health of women at Hope Street to compare to women from Dorset on community sentences. Researchers will collect information on the health and social care needs of the two groups of women at similar time intervals over a one-year period. They will then compare this information to look for differences. They will interview the women to understand their experiences. They will also look at the cost of their care. The information from the study will help the professionals who plan health and social care services and also those who work in criminal justice settings such as prison or probation. 

Women with experience of the criminal justice system are part of the nine-person study team. They have helped design the project and will also be important in spreading the word about the study. This will enable us to reach not just academic audiences and policy makers through publishing in journals and presenting at research conferences, but also people with lived experience of probation and imprisonment, and charities that work in this area. Informing a wide range of people will be important in ensuring that the findings from this study are acted on.