Kudos to Phd student Nicole Calhoun and her sponsor, Associate Professor Devon Noonan, for the submission of her Sigma Theta Tau, International (STTI) application, entitled “Primary Healthcare Utilization among the Community-Supervised Population with Noncommunicable Disease.” This proposal requests funding for a 1-year period with a project start date of June 1, 2020.

Subject Population: Approximately one in 55 adults is part of the community-supervision population (CSP). The CSP represents formerly incarcerated individuals who are now on probation or parole. Individuals in the CSP are more likely to have a noncommunicable disease (NCD) with poorer health outcomes compared to an individual without a history of criminal justice involvement. Individuals in the CSP face considerable challenges in accessing the appropriate level of care in the community.

Research Design: This will be a cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study using an existing database.

Instrument: Data will be accessed from the 2017 National Survey of Drug Use and Health data base.

Procedure: The proposed study seeks to determine and compare the prevalence of NCD along with exploring whether socioeconomic position (healthcare insurance and annual income) mediate outpatient healthcare utilization among CSP adults compared to non-CSP adults. A better understanding of factors that influence health access and will inform tailored interventions that improve coordination and continuity of care for the CSP.