Philipsburg, Sint Maarten – Point Blanche Prison and the Miss Lalie Center (MLC) recently completed a Prison Health Sprint focused on preventive health screening and establishing a clearer baseline of the health needs of inmates and staff across both facilities.
During the initiative, which ran from September 16 to October 8, a team of eight volunteer nurses and other health professionals carried out structured physical and mental health screenings. At Point Blanche Prison, 57 prisoners and 17 staff members were screened, while all residents of the Miss Lalie Center participated in the screening process. The screenings provided an opportunity to identify potential health concerns and, where necessary, determine appropriate follow-up.
A central feature of the Health Sprint was the close collaboration between correctional, physical health, mental health and education partners. The initiative was supported by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), the National Institute of Professional Advancement (NIPA), the Trimbos Institute, the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) and the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC). This collaboration brought together operational knowledge from the detention sector with specialized physical and mental health expertise as well as targeted donations and other forms of support, helping to strengthen the quality and comprehensiveness of the screening process.
MHF played a particularly important role in the mental health component of the Sprint. In addition to supporting the mental health screening approach, MHF provided three staff members throughout the Health Sprint who helped to ensure that mental health screenings were conducted in an appropriate and sensitive manner. MHF also contributed expertise on confidentiality, informed consent, non-stigmatizing communication and trauma-informed approaches to facilitate a responsive delivery of the mental health component.
Beyond the individual screenings, the Health Sprint helped test and strengthen practical systems for preventive healthcare in detention, including screening procedures, documentation and possible referral arrangements and coordination between detention services and external health partners. The initiative also generated practical experience that can inform the further development of sustainable health screening procedures and future prison-health services.
The Health Sprint demonstrated the added value of bringing together different areas of expertise around a shared objective: ensuring that health needs in detention settings can be identified more systematically. At the same time, it strengthened collaboration between government institutions, health professionals and community-based partners, creating relationships and practical experience that can support continued cooperation beyond the Sprint itself.
This initiative was implemented under the Detention Sector Reform Program (DSRP), with joint funding from the Ministry of Justice of Sint Maarten and the Government of the Netherlands. It was delivered through a partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
