Norwegian inmates’ experiences of a shift to self-catering: promoting health through empowerment

Prisons have been described as important settings for health promotion. Health promotion, in which empowerment is a key process, is challenging in prisons since inmates’ individual choice and control is constrained. Empowerment through increased individual choice and control regarding food could be one way to promote health in prison. The aim of this presentation is to explore how inmates experience a shift from ready meals to self-catering and how they perceive the consequences of this for their health. The context of this study is Bastøy Prison, situated on an island in the Oslofjord. It is Norway's largest low-security prison with a capacity of 115 male inmates. In advance of the study, the canteen had been closed and ready meals were introduced as a substitute. This resulted in protests among inmates, who argued for the possibility to cook their own food. Consequently, the prison shifted to self-catering. In the spring of 2022, 20 individual semi-structured interviews were carried out, with inmates with differing age, social backgrounds, and ethnicity. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed inspired by the principles of framework method. Empowerment through introduction of self-catering was expressed as having several positive consequences for the inmates related to their physical, mental, and social wellbeing. These consequences included, for example, developing food skills such as planning and organizing meals, cooking, and keeping the kitchen clean, eating healthier foods, building and expressing identity and strengthening social relations among inmates. The findings from this study suggest that empowerment through self-catering can have positive ripple effects that may be important for health promotion. Such understandings are important to bear in mind if the aim is to create health-promoting prisons. KEY MESSAGES: • Empowerment through increased individual choice and control regarding food could be one way to promote health in prison. • A shift to self-catering was expressed by inmates as having several positive consequences for their physical, mental, and social wellbeing.