Prison Visitation and All-Cause Mortality During Reentry: An Examination of In-Person and Remote Video Visits

Prior research suggests in-person visitation while incarcerated has many benefits for reentry, including protective effects for health outcomes such as post-release mortality. However, researchers have not tested whether remote video visits are also linked to death after release from prison. Using a sample of more than 7,000 people released from prison during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study tests whether video visits are related to all-cause mortality after controlling for in-person visits and other covariates. The results of multivariate Cox regression models show a negative association between the total visitation rate and all-cause mortality, but null results were found when examining the in-person and video visitation rates separately. The results suggest the availability of remote video visits should be expanded to supplement, but not replace, in-person visits from friends and family members.