Improving mental health and wellbeing after release from prison

The HARP Trial

Improving the health and wellbeing of people released from prison: The HARP Trial

In this five-year project, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), we will co-design and rigorously evaluate an evidence-informed model of transitional care to improve the mental health and wellbeing of adults released from prisons in Australia. Our work will be underpinned by epidemiological evidence from the world’s largest prospective cohort study of people released from prisons — the HARP4 cohort study. Our model of care will be co-designed with a national consortium of service providers and lived experience experts. The HARP Trial project has three overlapping phases:

  1. Co-design of a culturally safe, age- and gender-responsive model of transitional care, informed by national scoping of existing service models, targeted interrogation of globally unique cohort data held by the research team, and community consultations across Australia, to improve the mental health and wellbeing of adults released from prison.

  2. A pragmatic, randomised controlled trial of the model to confirm its feasibility, acceptability, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness in real-world settings, to support broader uptake and scalability.

  3. Partnership with service providers and people with lived experience of incarceration to inform adaptation to other settings and promote scalability of the model of transitional care.

Funding: Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), with additional funding from Curtin University and in-kind contributions from Queensland Health - Metro South Health, South Australian Prison Health Service, and NSW Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network.

Research Team: Professor Stuart Kinner, Professor Ed Heffernan, Professor Kimberlie Dean, Professor Rohan Borschmann, Associate Professor Michael Doyle, Professor Penny Abbott, Professor David Preen, Professor Mark Stoové, Associate Professor Jesse Young, Dr Craig Cumming, Dr Lucas Calais Ferreira, Dr Michael Curtis, Dr Darcy Coulter, Professor Dennis Petrie, Professor Emily Wang (Chief Investigators); Dr Marshall Watson, Ms Margaret Doherty, Professor Megan Williams, Associate Professor Balaji Motamarri, Dr Sophie Davison, Mr Andrew Wiley, Professor Shira Shavit, Dr Lisa Puglisi, Dr Ashleigh Stewart, Associate Professor James Foulds, Professor Julia Crilly, Dr Fiona Kouyoumdjian, Dr Thomas Cheung, Dr Abigail Lane (Associate Investigators)

Partner organisations: Mental Health Matters 2 Pty Ltd, Metro South Hospital and Health Service (Queensland), Transitions Clinic Network, Queensland Corrective Services, NSW Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, South Australian Department of Health, Outcare (WA), Wungening Aboriginal Corporation