We focus on prevalence of ADHD in prison, comorbid disorders and review the latest findings in research and clinical practice

About this Event

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder in adults that is increasingly recognised in primary and secondary health care mental health services. Within prisons there is a much higher rate of ADHD than in the general population with approximately 20-30% meeting ADHD diagnostic criteria. Despite this, ADHD services within prisons are underdeveloped across the UK. In our experience, many prisoners with ADHD are treated for comorbid conditions, and antipsychotics and antidepressants are often prescribed, yet ADHD often goes unrecognised and untreated.

This event will focus on prevalence of ADHD in prisons, ADHD and comorbidities, and what research has been done to further our understanding of the management of ADHD in prisons and offender populations more generally. What should ADHD services look like within the prison service and how do we develop cost-effective services that merge with currently available prison primary and secondary care services for mental health.

The meeting will hear from health care professionals and clinical researchers with a long track record of working with ADHD within the prison setting. We will bring together health care professional and service user perspectives to further our understanding of the unmet needs of this population and how to deliver more effective support for prisoners with ADHD. This meeting will be of particular interest to all those working with offender populations and prison mental health, but will also be relevant to the management of ADHD for community patients presenting with a wide range of complex comorbid behavioural, mental health and neurodevelopmental problems.

Topics will include:

• The medical treatment of ADHD in offenders
• The effects of treating ADHD in emotional instability
• Studies from Sweden and current services
• The management of ADHD – report on expert consensus
• ADHD and comorbidity in the prison setting
• The delivery of effective mental health services to offender and prison populations
• The next 10-years – the way ahead

Speakers on the day will include:

• Professor Philip Asherson
• Professor Lindsay Thomson
• Professor Susan Young
• Professor Ylva Ginsberg
• Dr Peter Mason
• Dr Andrew Forrester
• Beverly Nolker

This project is funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, an MRC and NIHR partnership. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the MRC, NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. (project ref: 14/23/17)