Selected Publications

Creating an evidence base for public health-focused prison culture change and criminal legal policies, and improved healthcare in prisons

Learning from International Best Practices

“We just needed to open the door”: a case study of the quest to end solitary confinement in North Dakota – by David H. Cloud, Dallas Augustine, Cyrus Ahalt, Craig Haney, Lisa Peterson, Colby Braun, and Brie Williams. First published in Health & Justice on October 18, 2021

Role of a US-Norway Exchange in Placing Health and Well-Being at the Center of US Prison Reform – by Cyrus Ahalt, Craig Haney, Kim Ekhaugen, and Brie Williams. First published in the American Journal of Public Health on January 22, 2020

Transforming Prison Culture to Improve Correctional Staff Wellness and Outcomes for Adults in Custody “The Oregon Way”: A Partnership between the Oregon Department of Corrections and the University of California’s Correctional Culture Change Program – by Cyrus Ahalt, Colette S. Peters, Heidi Steward, and Brie A. Williams. First published in the Advancing Corrections Journal in 2019 (Issue 8, Article 10).


Correctional Healthcare

Prisons and COVID-19: A Desperate Call for Gerontological Expertise in Correctional Health Care  – by Stephanie Grace Prost, Meghan A. Novisky, Leah Rorvig, Nick Zaller, and Brie Williams.  First published in the Gerontologist on July 24, 2020

Shackled at the End of Life: We Can Do Better – by Michele DiTomas, Joseph Bick, and Brie Williams.  First published online in The American Journal of Bioethics on June 25, 2019

The Need for Higher Standards in Correctional Healthcare to Improve Public Health – by Josiah D. Rich, Scott A. Allen, Brie A. Williams.  First published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on December 19, 2014

Public Health and Prisons: Priorities in the Age of Mass Incarceration – by David H. Cloud, Ilana R. Garcia-Grossman, Andrea C. Armstrong, & Brie Williams. First published in the Annual Review of Public Health, 12 April 2023

Criminal Justice Reform is Healthcare Reform – by Lawrence A. Haber, Chesa Boudin, Brie A. Williams. First published in JAMA on December 14, 2023.


COVID-19 in Prisons

Ten Urgent Priorities Based on Lessons Learned From More Than a Half Million Known COVID-19 Cases in US Prisons – by Elizabeth Barnet, Ada Kwan, and Brie Williams. First published in the American Journal of Public Health on April 15, 2021

Providing Ethical and Humane Care to Hospitalized, Incarcerated Patients With COVID-19 – by Leah Rorvig and Brie Williams. First published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine on February 10, 2021

Occupational Health: A Key to the Control of COVID-19 in Correctional Facilities – by David Sears, Cyrus Ahalt, Dallas Augustine, and Brie Williams. First published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on July 27, 2020

Medical Isolation and Solitary Confinement: Balancing Health and Humanity in US Jails and Prisons During COVID-19 – by David H. Cloud, Cyrus Ahalt, Dallas Augustine, David Sears, and Brie Williams. First published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine July 6, 2020


Solitary Confinement

Consensus Statement from the Santa Cruz Summit on Solitary Confinement and Health – by Craig Haney, Brie Williams, and Cyrus Ahalt. First published in Northwestern University Law Review in August 2020.

“We just needed to open the door”: a case study of the quest to end solitary confinement in North Dakota – by David H. Cloud, Dallas Augustine, Cyrus Ahalt, Craig Haney, Lisa Peterson, Colby Braun, and Brie Williams first published in Health and Justice on October 18, 2021

Examining the role of healthcare professionals in the use of solitary confinement – by Cyrus Ahalt, Alex Rothman, and Brie A. Williams.  First published in BMJ on October 24, 2017

Older Prisoners and the Physical Health Effects of Solitary Confinement – by Brie A. Williams.  First published online in the American Journal of Public Health on November 10, 2016

Reforming Solitary-Confinement Policy–Heeding a Presidential Call to Action – by Cyrus Ahalt and Brie A. Williams.  First published in The New England Journal of Medicine on May 5, 2016

Extreme Heat and Suicide Watch Incidents Among Incarcerated Men – by David H. Cloud, Brie Williams, Regine Haardörfer, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, and Hannah L.F. Cooper. First published in JAMA Network Open on August 11, 2023

A case study of solitary confinement reform in Oregon – by David H. Cloud, Craig Haney, Cyrus Ahalt, Brie Williams. First published in PLOS ONE on July 26, 2023


Compassionate Release

Strategies to Optimize the Use of Compassionate Release From US Prisons
by Stephanie Grace Prost and Brie Williams. First published in the American Journal of Public Health on January 22, 2020

“No One Wants to Die Alone”: Incarcerated Patients’ Knowledge and Attitudes About Early Medical Release – by Alexa Kanbergs, Cyrus Ahalt, Irena Stijacic Cenzer, R Sean Morrison, and Brie A Williams. First published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management in April 2019 

For Seriously Ill Prisoners, Consider Evidence-Based Compassionate Release Policies – by Brie A. Williams, Alex Rothman, and Cyrus Ahalt. First published in Health Affairs on February 6, 2017


The Care of Incarcerated Patients in Community Hospitals

Shackling in the Hospital – by Lawrence A. Haber, Lisa A. Pratt, Hans P. Erickson, and Brie A. Williams.  First published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on January 28, 2022

Providing Ethical and Humane Care to Hospitalized, Incarcerated Patients With COVID-19 – by Leah Rorvig and Brie Williams.  First published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine on February 10, 2021

Shackled at the End of Life: We Can Do Better – by Michele DiTomas, Joseph Bick, and Brie Williams.  First published online in The American Journal of Bioethics on June 25, 2019


Healthcare Training for Non-Healthcare Professionals

Good Cop, Better Cop: Evaluation of a Geriatrics Training Program for Police – by Rebecca T. Brown, Cyrus Ahalt, Josette Rivera, Irena Stijacic Cenzer, Angela Wilhelm, and Brie A. Williams. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on April 24, 2017

Police on the front line of community geriatric health care: challenges and opportunities – by Rebecca T. Brown, Cyrus Ahalt, Michael A. Steinman, Kelly Kruger, and Brie A Williams. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on November 6, 2014

“My older clients fall through every crack in the system”: geriatrics knowledge of legal professionals – by Tacara Soones, Cyrus Ahalt, Sarah Garrigues, David Faigman, and Brie A. Williams. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on March 10, 2014


Aging & Serious Illness in Jails and Prisons

Prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment before incarcerationby Randall L. Kuffel, Amy L. Byers, Brie Williams, Richard Fortinsky, Yixia Li, Michael A Ruderman, Lisa C Barry. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on February 25, 2022

The growing geriatric prison population: A dire public health consequence of mass incarceration – by Brie Williams, Michele DiTomas, and Alison Pachynski.  First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on September 1, 2021

Factors Associated with Incarceration in Older Adults Experiencing Homelessness: Results from the HOPE HOME Study – by Ilana Garcia-Grossman, Lauren Kaplan, Karen Valle, David Guzman, Brie Williams, and Margot Kushel. First published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on June 9, 2021

“We Take Care of Patients, but We Don’t Advocate for Them”: Advance Care Planning in Prison or Jail – by Rachel Ekaireb, Cyrus Ahalt, Rebecca Sudore, Lia Metzger, and Brie Williams. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on October 9, 2018

Cognition and Incarceration: Cognitive Impairment and Its Associated Outcomes in Older Adults in Jail – by Cyrus Ahalt, Irena Stijacic-Cenzer, Bruce L. Miller, Howard J. Rosen, Deborah E. Barnes, and Brie A. Williams. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on September 19, 2018

Older adults in jail: high rates and early onset of geriatric conditions – by Meredith Greene, Cyrus Ahalt, Irena Stijacic-Cenzer, Lia Metzger, and Brie Williams. First published in Health & Justice on February 17, 2018

Ageing prisoners: An introduction to geriatric health-care challenges in correctional facilities – by Rachael Bedard, Lia Metzger, and Brie Williams. First published in the International Review of the Red Cross on November 17, 2017

Addressing the aging crisis in U.S. criminal justice health care – by Bria A. Williams, James S. Goodwin, Jacques Baillargeon, Cyrus Ahalt, and Louise C. Walter. First published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on May 29, 2012

History of Incarceration and Its Association With Geriatric and Chronic Health Outcomes in Older Adulthood – by Ilana R. Garcia-Grossman, Irena Cenzer, & Michael A. Steinman. First published in JAMA Network Open on 6 January 2023


Other Published Works

Words matter: a call for humanizing and respectful language to describe people who experience incarceration – by Nguyen Toan Tran, Stephanie Baggio, Angela Dawson, Éamonn O’Moore, Brie Williams, Precious Bedell, Olivier Simon, Willem Scholten, Laurent Getaz, and Hans Wolff.  First published in BMC International Health and Human Rights on November 16, 2018

Balancing the Rights to Protection and Participation: A Call for Expanded Access to Ethically Conducted Correctional Health Research – by Cyrus Ahalt, Craig Haney, Stuart Kinner, and Brie Williams.  First published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on February 5, 2018