What Factors Must Be Present in an Addiction Treatment Program Before It Can Be Considered Effective?

Question by dianna ns: What factors must be present in an addiction treatment program before it can be considered effective?
I don’t really know how to scrutinize treatment programs and I want to make sure that my friend who’s about to get herself rehabilitated gets what she needs out of the program.

Best answer:

Answer by allegra f
There are key principles that must form the basis of any addiction treatment program and these are the following:

* A treatment that works for one person may not work for another. Treatment programs must vary because the needs of an individual differs from that of another individual.
* The availability of treatment is vital.
* For an addiction treatment program to be effective, the treatment must attend to the various needs of the individual, and not just his/her drug/alcohol addiction.
* The treatment must be molded to meet the person’s changing needs.
* The person must be able to remain in treatment for a sufficient amount of time for the treatment to be effective.
* There must be counseling and other behavioral therapies in a patient’s treatment program as these are needed for the program to be effective.
* For some kinds of disorders, medication is a must.
* For people with psychological illnesses as well as substance abuse disorder, both must be treated simultaneously.
* Treatment does not end with the managing of withdrawal symptoms. This is only the start.
* The patient must be monitored continuously in the duration of the treatment.
* The patient must be assessed for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases, and must provide counseling to help patients modify or change behaviors that place themselves or others at risk of infection.
* Recovery can be a long term process and requires multiply episodes of treatment, including “booster” sessions and other forms of continuing care.

What do you think? Answer below!

 

Bob Pennell illustrationMail Tribune / Bob Pennell illus

Filed under: drug abuse help treatment programs

Mail Tribune. As health officials work to reduce the more than 20 million painkillers prescribed in Jackson County each year, patients who have become addicted to opiates — including heroin — and want to find help often must wait weeks or months for …
Read more on Mail Tribune

 

Supervised Drug Injection Clinic in Vancouver Finds Success

Filed under: drug abuse help treatment programs

Several clinical trials run by the National Addiction Centre at Kings College London over the past 15 years have shown that supervised “medical grade” heroin injection can be far more effective in treating otherwise-persistent addicts who aren't …
Read more on Pacific Standard