This part of the study included structured and semistructured interviews with prisoners on entry into
prison between March 2010 and November 2011. The overall sample was a consecutive sample of
100 prisoners aged ≥60 years. The following structured assessments were used: the Camberwell Assessment
of Need – Short Forensic Version (CANFOR-S), the Geriatric Depression Scale short form (GDS-15), the Brief
Psychiatric Rating Scale and the UK minimum data set (MDS) for home resident assessment and care
screening background (adapted version). In addition, an audit of health care notes was undertaken.
Descriptive statistics from these data were produced. Twenty-four of these 100 participants also took part in
semistructured interviews. The semistructured interviews aimed to capture older prisoners' experiences of
reception into custody. Data from the qualitative interviews were transcribed and analysed using the
constant comparison method.