Setting a Precedent for Drug Rehab

Over the past few decades various "authorities" and their addiction science theories have reduced the effectiveness of drug rehabilitation by introducing many new and harmful drugs into the treatment process.

Healthcare, like other service industries, should be more consumer-driven to provide results. It should not only be okay for addicts and family members to expect results, but it should be the norm. While no treatment is 100% effective, it is completely unacceptable that most rehabs get away with telling people that they shouldn't expect results and instead will probably relapse and fight it for the rest of their lives.

The New Face of Recovery™ promotes consumer advocacy to demand results. Rehabs need to be accountable for their practices and a benchmark of treatment outcomes needs to be addressed. We seek to help set a precedent for alcohol and other drug rehabilitation by bridging public awareness, treatment professionals, lawmakers, addicts and family members to help funnel resources into programs that can demonstrate an ability to get results and create a higher percentage of non-relapsing clients.

What is Considered a Successful Rehab?

One of the first ways to create a benchmark is to first define what success is. Most outcome studies skew their results into only showing positive signs in certain areas. An example of this is the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS), which counts their success in terms of percentage of reduction in drug use, not precentage of clients no longer using drugs. Therefore, if someone were using drugs only on weekends, whereas before they were daily users, this could be a 60% reduction, or success. In our eyes, for results like that you could just send someone to live with a relative and save the 25K and probably get the same results.

What's worse is when a rehab considers a success as someone who just completes the program. There is validity in tracking that statistic, but that is called a retention rate, not a success rate. Success rates should be applied to what happens when people leave treatment, and can be measured in various intervals, such as six months, twelve months, two years, etc.

There area also many other factors that go into the definition of success. Indicators such as full-time employment, quality of life and being responsible family members also play a part.

Contact us to find out more about successful drug rehabs and what signs to watch out for when someone is claiming they have a success rate. We can help you find a drug rehab program that really does expect and achieve results, with the understanding that the success also depends on the responsibility of the individual's intention and participation.