New to addiction treatment? Clinic programmes and options for private addiction help can be confusing. It's easy to sign up too quickly for treatment, without a proper understanding what to look for.
Here's everything you need to know when buying rehab - including how to ask the right questions and weed out weaker options.
Step 1 - Needs .v. Wants
There are a wealth of treatment options available for those fresh to the journey of recovery. But considering first, what your treatment needs truly are, can help you pay for rehab just once, and not twice.
Detox .v. Rehab
Some providers can try to sell Rehab, and even Aftercare, upfront, before you've even started treatment, but do you really need all these?
- Do you need all three stages of treatment, detox > rehab > aftercare? It's important to be clear on this.
You could go for a detox-only programme, but run greater risk of future relapse if other supports are not in place.
Treatment Near Acton
Caught up in the need for detox, many will commit too early to a clinic as close as possible to home, without thinking ahead.
Make comparisons instead, against level of care, support, and independent reviews from The Care Quality Commission (England & Wales) or The Care Inspectorate (Scotland).
Clinics have to pass muster with regulators re the basics of detox and rehab, but how supportive is their team? What is the staff:client numbers ratio? What happens if you struggle in future? Just a few minutes work here, can pay off down the line.
Complex Detox Requirements
The quality of support you receive from the clinic team, can make or break recovery results.
This can be especially important where you have complex drug or alcohol detox needs.
The clinic team over the phone should be able to give a rough indication of how they'll approach your treatment.
Likewise for therapeutic help, what specialist qualifications in addiction do the team have? Ask here about issues that have been sticking points for you in the past, and their suitability to help.
KEY QUESTIONS
- Are you a rehab clinic, or a hospital?
- What professionals in the clinic are admininstering detox?
- Are there suitable staff in the clinic who are equipped to handle detox complications?
Step 2 - How Does Rehab Work?
Tell me about how treatment works.
For in-patient treatment stays, you'll have your own room in the clinic, where you stay, live and sleep, for anywhere from 7-84 days or more (28 days is the average stay).
Before admission, you should expect to complete an initial assessment over the phone with admissions staff, whose job it is to co-ordinate the information you provide with specialists inside the clinic, and ensure their facility can meet your needs.
What Is A Care Plan?
If your clinic provides strong personal attention in the programme, they should help you map out what you want from treatment, exactly.
In the best clinics, where personal attention is high, you'll work with an assigned case manager, throughout your stay, who should help you draw up a care plan, in this way.
Be sure to take an active part in this, to avoid having standardised goals laid out, that don't match your preferences or personal situation. Don't miss this bit out.
KEY QUESTIONS
- To what extent is my care and management planned and mapped out?
- How do you help clients measure goals and progress?
- What will my care plan include?
- Am I passed from one staff member to another, as shifts change?
What Actually Happens Inside A Clinic?
What Is Day To Day Life Like, In Treatment?
Asking some key questions before admitting to a clinic can help you get a sense for what life is like in treatment, before committing.
Private clinics are normally group oriented. Consistency can be maintained by everyone sharing in the same day structure, usually in the form of an agenda. This lays out the timetable of events, and what's expected.
The duration of detox each individual needs, will vary, based on multiple factors, including frequency and recency of usage, history of addiction, previous detoxes, etc. Getting clear of the physical effects of alcohol or substance misuse in detox could take 3-6 days, for lighter use cases. Other times, it takes longer for the body to process the left-over substances. This level of variance between individuals is very normal.
Visiting the clinic before committing to treatment will also help you gauge just what the everyday is like, inside a centre, before committing financially.
KEY QUESTIONS
- What see inside photos do you have, of the clinic, online?
- Do I take part in daily activities even during detox?
- Is it possible to arrange a pre-admission visit, to look around? Is there any charge attached?
- When would I be expected to move from detox into therapy in the clinic?
Does Covid-19 Affect My Rehab Treatment?
Few people successfully make it into long term recovery without the help of the bigger group around them.
Only with the support of others on the journey, can we hope to make a full recovery.
But doing so safely, in the age of Covid-19, means ensuring the clinic you choose has provisions in place to guard against risk of infection.
Step 3 - Set A Budget
Naturally, funding private rehab treatment in Acton is a concern for many.
There are few half way house providers that exist generally, between public providers, and private treatment, so get clear from the start on which you need.
Automatically choosing the lowest price provider can lead to poor care levels inside the clinic, detrimental to your recovery progress.
Working with minimalist care, in a clinic with spartan conditions is not conducive to personal breakthroughs. Instead, look for alternative providers with smaller programmes, headcount, and overheads, to strike the right balance.
By calling and comparing a few treatment providers against each other, this step should give you a sense of what rehab will cost.
Options Beyond Rehab
Mutual Aid Support
Most locations hold local Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings which can assist in the mutual aid and social elements of recovery.
If you're just starting out in recovery though, detoxing comfortably first, will undoubtedly be the priority.
Mutual aid meetings have earned their place in everyone's recovery. But at the early stages, it's important to get safe and comfortable professional help to detox.
Public Healthcare For Addiction
Immediate help to detox from NHS services is usually not possible. It's more common to receive a referral to a local Drug/Alcohol support team, and begin weekly meetings with a keyworker.
At best, only the most extreme or chronic cases are normally considered for hospital detox or residential clinics.
Where no public healthcare short term options are viable, or where the individual doesn't have enough funding in place for treatment, we often see families and friends pooling together to finance detox for a loved one.
Step 4 - Find Objective Reviews
Reviews of your chosen provider are easy to find on the net, but are they real?
Our heroes here are the industry watchdogs - The Care Commission, and The Care Inspectorate.
Inspectors from these organisations visit private clinics nationwide, and check they comply with minimum standards of care, producing reports which they publish on the world wide web.
Treatment providers are graded against standardised performance measures like environment, care standards, and support provided to clients.
Regulatory Inspections - Keynotes
In some visits, the provider is made aware in advance, that the inspection is occuring - these are what's known as "Announced" inspections. Other times, inspection teams show up without warning - these are "Unannounced" inspections - therefore, to get the most reliable information, look for reports which state the inspection was Unannounced.
Step 5 - Finalise The Details
With the homework all done, it's time to get serious about arranging treatment at one of the providers you've shortlisted.
Expect to go through a few questions initially, when you call the provider you've chosen - this is normal.
You can normally complete the necessary steps over the phone in 20 minutes or less, and then make an initial deposit towards treatment, that's used to hold the room in your name, until you arrive at the clinic.
Now is also the time to finalise any other arrangements re payment, like paying via insurance policy.
Step 6 - Deposits & Paying For Treatment
As above, expect to pay a deposit prior to admission.
The deposit could be anywhere from £500 - £3,000, depending on specifics. Most clinics accept payment over the phone by card.
You won't find many clinics offering payment options directly, unfortunately.
An email confirmation of your booking is usually sent to you, confirming the next steps.
Balance To Pay
The provider will likely ask you to settle the remainder of the treatment balance due, after arrival at the clinic.
Pay this on time to avoid surcharges that could quickly mount up later.
Step 7 - Admit to treatment
If you don't already have it, contact the admissions team and confirm your date and time of arrival.
Most clinics will expect you to pack these basics:
Check your booking confirmation for advice about mobile phone usage, internet access, visits, leisure facilities, and any special arrangements for covid-19.
Do you have transport to the clinic organised? Making sure of this will help avoid any potential extra charges levied for late arrival.
From this point on, your recovery journey has begun!
Are You Asking The Right Questions?
Thank you for reading the ultimate guide to finding the right rehab treatment for Acton.
Get access to our master list of questions to ask each provider, in an easy side-by-side checklist.
You've completed our guide on finding the right rehab near Acton!
Help for addiction is available at Abbeycare's UK clinics.
We've worked with thousands from all over the world, and we can probably help you too.
All that experience has helped us assist those with even the most complicated detox and rehab needs.
Our team can even get transport organised too, if needed, from your location (with an extra charge).
Our inspection reports from the regulators, are available on our clinic pages, here: Abbeycare Scotland, Abbeycare Hygrove.
Our admissions team are ready to listen to your needs.
Detox is available, with comfort and safety, with the help of our medical team.
Our therapy team are available, to help you identify triggers, patterns, and start truly overcoming them.
Our clinic team - many of them in recovery personally - are ready to get you started.
The only thing left is - are you ready?
To ask a question, or to arrange admission, ring our team now on 01603 513 091.
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