Enhancing Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment in the Criminal Justice System: Feasibility of a Proposed Method

Abstract

Persons with cognitive impairment(s) are over-represented in the criminal justice system (CJS), yet many instances of cognitive impairment go undiagnosed. As this article outlines, it would be both desirable and feasible to use automated alerts to flag accused persons who may require assistance in interacting with the CJS either due to a confirmed or likely diagnosis of a cognitive impairment or other relevant condition. A proposed method to develop this alert system is outlined, combining natural language processing (NLP) applied to electronic health records (EHRs) with data linkage (DL) of health and CJS data. Although there are technical barriers, this article focuses on the ethical and leg..