Educational pathways for holistic health and transformative social justice in prisons in British Columbia

Federal prisons deprive people of health education, which has adverse health impacts, including truncating opportunities for critical health literacy, agency, social inclusion and holistic health. The majority of people in prison have less than a grade ten education, and opportunities for learning are minimal. Despite evidence that education can support health literacy by increasing self-efficacy and socio-economic opportunities, there is a persistent gap between study findings and testing real-world benefits of formal education in prison. This Participatory Action Research will focus on developing and testing transformative social justice curriculum in two BC prisons, guided by the wisdom of currently and formerly incarcerated people. Anticipated outcomes are increased health literacy, positive identity formation, and improve holistic health. Knowledge mobilization focus on expanding and sustaining curriculum, working towards course accreditation, and work towards national policy change to improve health and education outcomes in prisons.