Many individuals in need of treatment and
rehab for drug and alcohol dependence have attended and failed several
inpatient and outpatient drug rehab programs. The merry-go-round of 28
days relapse is frustrating for both the addict/alcoholic and their family
members. The question that is typically NOT asked is: ‘what is
different this time?’
The honest answer to the question ‘what is different this time? can be answered in one word…NOTHING. The treatment industry is littered with phone rooms owned by treatment centers whose sole purpose is to capture sales from alumni that have relapsed. Thus, the industry recycles patients the way that Coca-Cola recycles plastic.
For over 50 years, inpatient and Drug Rehab have provided an estimated 2-5% success rate after one year of treatment! What other industry could provide these dismal results and still remain viable? The answer is none, except the United States Federal Government that continuously operates at a deficit!
Why do consumers allow this type of business practice and failure in the industry? Quite simply, the industry preys on desperate patients and families who want but don’t demand quality, evidence-based, outpatient drug rehab.
Case in point: Johnny is strung-out on heroin and his father finds him nodding-out in the basement. Johnny’s dad believes that Johnny is clean and sober after having attended his fourth inpatient drug rehab three months ago. Dad picks-up the phone and calls the first drug-rehab-800-referral service on the internet and in desperation believes the sales pitch on the other end of the phone from a woman who has been sober for six months. What happens next? Johnny is on an airplane (in 2 hours flat!), with a ticket purchased by the drug treatment Florida and he is back on the same merry-go-round.
How do we change the landscape? The answer is complicated given that alcoholism and drug addiction is a complicated disease. However, the first suggestion is that the industry must be held accountable for the numbers they provide to the public. Industry representatives should be forced to provide (within a reasonable percentage of error), statistics that reflect whether an individual’s remains clean and sober after one year of treatment. This statistic will provide a baseline for consumers to decide where to send their loved-one to treatment.
The second suggestion is for the treatment industry to begin to not only claim that they provide evidence-based modalities of rehab, but rather, they should be held accountable for providing these modalities of treatment. Recent studies by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia (CASA) demonstrate that claims of providing evidence-based modalities of treatment are rampant; however, a large portion of these claims are false, given that staff at the treatment facilities are not even certified or trained in these modalities of treatment or rehab.
The final suggestion, for purposes of this article (drug & alcohol treatment), is that merely providing a sole focus on 12-step education, in treatment and rehab, provides dismal results. Although 12-step participation is scientifically proven to aid and increase treatment success, placing 12-step education first, without dealing with underlying core issues, i.e., family of origin issues, abuse issues, depression, places the cart before the horse. It is suggested that concurrently, core issues and 12-step education must be implemented. Moreover, continuity of care and continuation of treatment past 28-days is a necessity that if not implemented leads to 2-5% success rates in the industry.
The honest answer to the question ‘what is different this time? can be answered in one word…NOTHING. The treatment industry is littered with phone rooms owned by treatment centers whose sole purpose is to capture sales from alumni that have relapsed. Thus, the industry recycles patients the way that Coca-Cola recycles plastic.
For over 50 years, inpatient and Drug Rehab have provided an estimated 2-5% success rate after one year of treatment! What other industry could provide these dismal results and still remain viable? The answer is none, except the United States Federal Government that continuously operates at a deficit!
Why do consumers allow this type of business practice and failure in the industry? Quite simply, the industry preys on desperate patients and families who want but don’t demand quality, evidence-based, outpatient drug rehab.
Case in point: Johnny is strung-out on heroin and his father finds him nodding-out in the basement. Johnny’s dad believes that Johnny is clean and sober after having attended his fourth inpatient drug rehab three months ago. Dad picks-up the phone and calls the first drug-rehab-800-referral service on the internet and in desperation believes the sales pitch on the other end of the phone from a woman who has been sober for six months. What happens next? Johnny is on an airplane (in 2 hours flat!), with a ticket purchased by the drug treatment Florida and he is back on the same merry-go-round.
How do we change the landscape? The answer is complicated given that alcoholism and drug addiction is a complicated disease. However, the first suggestion is that the industry must be held accountable for the numbers they provide to the public. Industry representatives should be forced to provide (within a reasonable percentage of error), statistics that reflect whether an individual’s remains clean and sober after one year of treatment. This statistic will provide a baseline for consumers to decide where to send their loved-one to treatment.
The second suggestion is for the treatment industry to begin to not only claim that they provide evidence-based modalities of rehab, but rather, they should be held accountable for providing these modalities of treatment. Recent studies by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia (CASA) demonstrate that claims of providing evidence-based modalities of treatment are rampant; however, a large portion of these claims are false, given that staff at the treatment facilities are not even certified or trained in these modalities of treatment or rehab.
The final suggestion, for purposes of this article (drug & alcohol treatment), is that merely providing a sole focus on 12-step education, in treatment and rehab, provides dismal results. Although 12-step participation is scientifically proven to aid and increase treatment success, placing 12-step education first, without dealing with underlying core issues, i.e., family of origin issues, abuse issues, depression, places the cart before the horse. It is suggested that concurrently, core issues and 12-step education must be implemented. Moreover, continuity of care and continuation of treatment past 28-days is a necessity that if not implemented leads to 2-5% success rates in the industry.
