Predictors of self-efficacy and self-rated health for older male inmates.

AIMS: The aims of this study were to examine: (1) the relationships between self-efficacy for health management and (a) health-promoting behaviours, (b) health-monitoring behaviours, and (c) self-rated health status in older male prisoners; and (2) the variations in self-rated health status and self-efficacy for health management by inmate characteristics of older men in prison.
BACKGROUND: The greying of the inmate population around the globe can be attributed to increases in punitive crime control practices, life expectancy; and the ageing baby boom generation. Older inmates are typically not a healthy group. Therefore, the needs of burgeoning numbers of older, sicker inmates are issues of international significance.
METHODS: A descriptive, correlational, survey was conducted from late 2007 to mid-2008 with Bandura's self-efficacy model as the guiding framework. RESULTS/
FINDINGS: Participants were 131 male inmates, aged 50 and older. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between self-efficacy for health management and the indexes measuring health-promoting behaviours (r=0.550; P<0.001), health-monitoring behaviours (r=0.323; P=0.001), and the single item rating for self-rated health (τ(b)=0.411; P<0.001). There was a tendency for education to be positively related to self-rated health but not self-efficacy (τ(b)=0.140; P=0.054 and τ(b)=0.105; P=0.122, respectively). Years of incarceration was not significantly related to self-rated health or self-efficacy.
CONCLUSION: These research findings support Bandura's self-efficacy theoretical work and its applicability to health-related research in prisons. Nurses are front line healthcare providers in prison, who are in a key position to implement interventions that promote greater inmate self-efficacy for healthy behaviours and chronic disease management.