by Erin Tully and PHN staff
From PHN Issue 34, Fall 2017
Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. While breast cancer is most likely to affect cisgender women, it affects people of all genders. (Cisgender means people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth.) Mammograms are recommended for people over the age of 40 who have breasts. Continue reading “Breast Health and Screening Mammograms”
by the Gray Panthers, Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Graterford chapter
From PHN Issue 27, Winter 2016
Elderly people are now 12% of Pennsylvania’s prison population. The number of people 50 years of age or older in Graterford prison alone has increased to 25% of its total population, and the state’s hospice care facility was expanded. The Department of Corrections’ definition of elderly is those over age 50, for good reason. Prison culture stressors and lack of access to holistic healthcare cause “physiological aging” that could mean aging arrives up to 15 years sooner for people in prison. Prison age 50 is the new age 65! Continue reading “Aging in Prison”
by Laura Whitehorn
From PHN Issue 19, Winter 2014
Mohaman Koti is either 85 or 87 years old, depending on whether you go by his birth certificate or what his mother told him when he was a child. He has been incarcerated in New York State since 1978—long enough that his sentencing transcript has been lost in the system.
Mr. Koti has been hospitalized multiple times for health problems, including myasthenia gravis (a neurological disorder) and cancer. He must often use a wheelchair, and his hearing is pretty much shot.
In May, Mr. Koti appeared before the parole board for the sixth time, and was again denied release. The board said they thought he might commit another crime if released—despite testimony from prison staff calling him a reliable peacemaker. Continue reading “Free the Elders, Improve Public Health”
Prison Health News 