CRediT contribution statement
Holly Walton (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8746-059X): Conceptualisation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualisation, Writing – original draft, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Efthalia Massou (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0488-482X): Conceptualisation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualisation, Writing – original draft, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Chris Sherlaw-Johnson (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4851-6060): Conceptualisation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualisation, Writing – original draft, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Donna Gipson (https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3471-1066): Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Lucy Wainwright (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3108-795X): Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Paula Harriott (https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6504-4010): Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Pei Li Ng (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8411-220X): Conceptualisation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Stephen Riley (https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2254-4127): Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Stephen Morris (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5828-3563): Conceptualisation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Naomi J Fulop (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5306-6140): Conceptualisation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – reviewing and editing.
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to all of the prisons, national and local stakeholders, prison leads, staff, buddies and recipients who took part in the interviews and workshops. Thank you to the project service user involvement group (including Marc Conway, Mark Sewell, Kelly Gleeson, Chasjit Verma and other members who wish not to be named individually) who provided important expertise and feedback throughout the study and to the NIHR RSET public and patient involvement members for providing feedback on the study protocol.
Many thanks to the evaluation advisory group: Dr Chantal Edge (UK HSA), Dr Katrina Forsyth (University of Manchester), Samantha Hughes (HMPPS), Theresa Pooley (HMPPS), Zoe Taylor (HMPPS), Tony Pounder (ADASS Care and Justice network), Maggie Bolger (HMPPS), Dr Miranda Davies (Nuffield Trust) and Gurbi Sagoo (Royal Borough of Greenwich local authority) for all of their advice, guidance and expertise throughout the project.
Thank you to Professor Helen Codd and Dr Miranda Davies for reviewing the study protocol.
Thank you to Dr Sonila Tomini for her role in conducting the documentary analysis, supporting with scoping of the study and initial design of the study.
Data-sharing statement
The anonymised qualitative data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding authors. To protect anonymity of interviewees, the data are not publicly available. Further information can be obtained from the corresponding authors.
Ethics statement
This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by London – South East Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 22/LO/0592, 17 October 2022), and approval from the National Research Committee (NRC reference: 2022-224, 25 October 2022).
We also received necessary permission from prison governors to undertake the study in all prison sites. Additionally, in some instances we sought approval from local authorities to undertake interviews.
Information governance statement
University College London (the study sponsor) is committed to handling all personal information in line with the UK Data Protection Act (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) 2016/679. Under the Data Protection legislation EP:IC consultants are the Data Processors; University College London is the Data Controller and EP:IC Consultants process personal data in accordance with University College London’s instructions. You can find out more about how we handle personal data, including how to exercise your individual rights and the contact details for University College London’s Data Protection Officer here (www.ucl.ac.uk/data-protection/data-protection-0).
Disclosure of interests
Full disclosure of interests: Completed ICMJE forms for all authors, including all related interests, are available in the toolkit on the NIHR Journals Library report publication page at https://doi.org/10.3310/MWFD6890.
Primary conflicts of interest: Chris Sherlaw-Johnson received funding from Health Navigator Ltd via the Nuffield Trust. Lucy Wainwright, Donna Gipson, Paula Harriott, and Stephen Riley are from EP:IC Consultants Ltd and were contracted by the NIHR RSET to conduct this study. Naomi J Fulop is an NIHR Senior Investigator, the UCL-nominated non-executive director for Whittington Health NHS Trust (2018–24), a non-executive director of the organisation COVID Bereaved Families for Justice, and a trustee of Health Services Research UK (to November 2022). Naomi J Fulop was formerly a member of the following: the UKRI and NIHR College of Experts for COVID-19 Research Funding (2020), the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme Funding Committee (2013–8), and the HS&DR Evidence Synthesis Sub Board (2016). Stephen Morris is currently (2022–) a member of the SBRI Healthcare panel. He was formerly a member of the NIHR HS&DR Programme Funding Committee (2014–6); the NIHR HS&DR Evidence Synthesis Sub Board (2016); the NIHR Unmet Need Sub Board, the NIHR HTA Clinical Evaluation and Trials Board (2007–9); the NIHR HTA Commissioning Board (2009–13), the NIHR PHR Research Funding Board (2011–7); and the NIHR PGfAR expert sub-panel (2015–9). His post is funded in part by RAND Europe, a non-profit research organisation.
Publications
Published
Walton H, Tomini SM, Sherlaw-Johnson C, Ng PL, Fulop NJ. How is social care provided in adult prisons in England and Wales? Br J Soc Work 2023;53:718–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2024.08.002.
Walton H, Sherlaw-Johnson C, Massou E, Ng PL, Fulop NJ. Peer support for health, social care, and educational needs in adult prisons: a systematic scoping review. Public Health 2024 Sep 20;236:412–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac145.
Submitted for review
Walton H, Sherlaw-Johnson C, Massou E, Ng PN, Wainwright L, Gipson D, et al. Understanding and evaluating social care provision in prisons in England and Wales. Submitted for publication in The Routledge Handbook of Prison Health and Wellbeing (June 2022).
Note. Three more publications are also in preparation.
Other outputs
Newspaper article
Peer supported social care in prisons. Inside Time, January 2024. URL: https://insidetime.org/information/peer-supported-social-care-in-prisons/
Blog
Peer Support for Adult Social Care in Prisons in England and Wales: A Q&A with Dr Holly Walton and Chris Sherlaw-Johnson. The Nuffield Trust; November 2023. URL: www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/peer-support-for-adult-social-care-in-prisons-in-england-and-wales-a-qa-with-dr-holly-walton-and-chris-sherlaw-johnson
Slide set summary
Peer Support for Adult Social Care in Prisons in England and Wales. The Nuffield Trust; September 2023. URL: www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/NIHR%20RSET%20-%20Peer%20support%20for%20adult%20social%20care%20in%20prisons%20slideset_15112023%20%20%281%29.pdf
Animations
Buddying Support Systems in Prisons: How Do They Work, and What Could Be Improved? The Nuffield Trust; May 2024. URL: www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/media/buddying-support-systems-in-prisons-how-do-they-work-and-what-could-be-improved
Conference presentations
Walton H, Massou E, Sherlaw-Johnson C, Gipson D, Wainwright C, Harriott P, et al. Peer Support for Adult Social Care in Prisons in England and Wales (Poster). Presented at 10th RCGP, RCN & RCPsych Health and Justice Summit: Building bridges in health and justice (Belfast), October 2023.
Walton H, Sherlaw-Johnson C, Massou E, Ng PL, Fulop N. Peer Support Services in Adult Prisons: A Systematic Scoping Review (Poster). Presented at HSRUK 2023 (Birmingham), July 2023. URL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S153ha6kz0
Disclaimers
This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The views and opinions expressed by authors in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NHS, the NIHR, the HSDR programme or the Department of Health and Social Care. If there are verbatim quotations included in this publication the views and opinions expressed by the interviewees are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect those of the authors, those of the NHS, the NIHR, the HSDR programme or the Department of Health and Social Care.