Discussing prison staff training needs, infrastructural and service needs, and changes in laws and regulations.
The first staff training event in the scope of the MenACE project (“Mental health, aging and palliative care in the European prisons”) was held in the city of Bruges, Belgium, from February 26th to March 2nd, 2018.
This training was attended by sixteen participants from Portugal – BSAFE Lab (of UBI – Beira Interior University), IPS_Innovative Prison Systems, and DGRSP – Directorate General of Reintegration and Prison Services – Romania (Hospice Casa Sperantei), and Belgium (the Federal Public Service of Justice).
The training has covered mental health, palliative care and aging in prisons, and the staff from different jurisdictions have seized this opportunity to share their experience and concerns related to the changes in their daily tasks that demand knowledge from the different curricula as well as soft skills.
The trainers were mainly seen as facilitators of the group, helping trainees discussing the topics and the: (1) prison staff training needs; (2) infrastructural and service needs; and (3) the changes in laws and regulations that can help staff dealing better with the mentally ill, the terminally ill or the older inmates with special needs.
The MenACE project aims to increase the response to mental health disorders within prisons and the quality of palliative and end of life care provided in prisons, by enhancing the skills of both the management and frontline staff.