RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Challenges for Canada in Meeting the Needs of Persons with Serious Mental Illness in Prison JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law SP 501 OP 509 VO 41 IS 4 A1 Alexander I. F. Simpson A1 Jeffry J. McMaster A1 Steven N. Cohen YR 2013 UL http://jaapl.org/content/41/4/501.abstract AB The number of prison inmates is predicted to rise in Canada, as is concern about those among them with mental illness. This article is a selective literature review of the epidemiology of serious mental illness (SMI) in prisons and how people with SMI respond to imprisonment. We review the required service components with a particular focus on care models for people with SMI in the Canadian correctional system. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of prison inmates have SMI, and this proportion may be increasing. The rate of incarceration of aboriginal people is rising. Although treatment in prison is effective, it is often unavailable or refused. Many of those with SMI are lost to follow-up within months of re-entering the community. There is much policy and service development aimed at improving services in Canada. However, the multijurisdictional organization of health care and the heterogeneity of the SMI population complicate these developments.