Justice Health Research: A Decade of Progress and Gaps

In the last decade, a new field called justice health research has popped up. It's like a bridge between the worlds of public health and the justice system. To make sure this area of study is fair and focused, researchers are taking a close look at what's been done so far. They're checking for any missing pieces in the puzzle. Imagine flipping through a giant book of research papers, from 1963 to 2023. That's what researchers did to find out who and what justice health studies are focusing on. They used a trick called text mining to dig through all those abstracts on PubMed. The findings? Well, it turns out that the research is mainly about adults. That's not very surprising. But here's a shocker: not much attention has been given to kids in the justice system. That's a big gap that needs filling. Another interesting bit is that the research hasn't been very consistent. Some studies use certain methods, while others use different ones. This makes it hard to compare results. It's like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle with pieces from different boxes. So, where do we go from here? Researchers are suggesting that future studies should aim to be more fair and include a wider range of people. They also want to see more consistent methods used. That way, we can get a clearer picture of how health and justice connect.