Abstract
BACKGROUND: Older women with criminal legal system involvement (CLSI) are women who are currently or formerly incarcerated or under supervised probation. Older women (age >50) make up about 18% of jail or prison incarcerated females, about 20,000 individuals, and many more in community supervision. Older women with CLSI face disproportionate aging-related health challenges as a result of social determinants and life circumstances that wear away at health over the long term. Research on health in this group is rare, and even rarer for women after incarceration, potentially hindering the development of focused solutions to improve women's health and access to services. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the research and identify gaps in peer-reviewed research on health and health services use of older women (age <50) with CLSI, we conducted a scoping review following Arksey and O'Malley's six-step method. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: Searches in PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE were conducted, followed by iterative reviews of titles, abstracts, and full-texts. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Data-based studies, published January 2000 to January 2025, and focused on women with CLSI, age >50 years. CHARTING METHODS: We extracted data into a matrix to summarize study characteristics and thematic emphases, divergences, and gaps. RESULTS: Of 25 studies meeting criteria, 12 were qualitative-only; 13 included cross-sectional analyses of health survey or medical record data. We were unable to locate any experimental or longitudinal observational studies. Thematic emphases included physical, mental, and social health and health services use during and post-incarceration; coping strategies, strengths, and resources; and proposed solutions to mitigate health challenges. CONCLUSION: Despite a rising number of older women with CLSI and barriers to aging-related care in and after incarceration, research to understand older women's needs during and after incarceration is rare, and interventional study to meet them is almost non-existent.