New to addiction treatment? Clinic programmes and options for private addiction help can be confusing. Choosing the wrong provider can mean serious consequences for future sobriety, relationships, and family life.
If you're considering expensive rehab treatment - read our need-to-knows before taking the plunge.
Step 1 - Needs .v. Wants
Having gone through months (years?) of denial, when we're ready for treatment, it's easy to rush ahead into the first detox provider you call. But spending just a little time getting clear on what you truly need, can save a costly mistake.
Detox, Rehab, Or Both?
A stay for alcohol or drug rehab normally follows the sequence Detox > Rehab > Aftercare, but do you need all three?
- Have you tried treatment previously, without success? Or even, tried going it alone without professional help? (Be truthful).
You could go for a detox-only programme, but run greater risk of future relapse if other supports are not in place.
Location, Location, Location?
Thinking of treatment nearby? It's a natural response when feeling low.
Unless you're extremely unwell, consider anything up to 100 mile radius and focus instead on quality of care.
Detox can be found in many places, but a strong rehabilitation programme with excellent therapy can mean much greater progress in the long term. We're getting to the real questions here about standard of care delivered, instead of just the bare minimum.
See all the locations Abbeycare serve, here.
Multi-Substance Detox, Or Previous Attempts At Rehab
Like many things in life, the quality of your experience in a rehab clinic can come down to the breadth and depth of experience of the staff you're working with.
You'll want a clear idea here of what detox protocol you're getting, and what help is available during it.
Most clinics have standardised approaches for routine detoxes for alcohol etc, but anything more complex will need specialist input from suitably qualified professionals.
Getting reassurance that the provider is not only ready to detox you based on your needs, but has done so many times for others in the past, is important.
KEY QUESTIONS
- In your experience, would someone with my detox needs be better suited for hospital detox?
- Is dealing with someone with my intake level and addiction history, a normal everyday client for your clinic?
- If I have questions about my specific detox needs, who would I speak to?
Step 2 - The Rehab Need-To-Knows
How does admitting to rehab work?
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).
Expect to complete a pre-admissions screening process over the phone - this is quite normal.
What Is A Care Plan?
Whilst all clinics operate a group environment generally, most should look to help you keep track of your progress, and monitor treatment goals reached.
A care plan, lays out in detail, how your stay will proceed, what targets you have for treatment, and how you'll measure them. Clinic addiction specialists (ideally assigned only to you) should help you prepare this and use it as a tool throughout your stay.
Together you'll map out key milestones, while accounting for past addictive patterns and behaviours. Any input at this stage will likely pay dividends later.
KEY QUESTIONS
- Is the care planning the same for every client, or is it personalised to me?
- Do you have a one size fits all approach to treatment, or do you work with each individual's needs?
- Does care planning account for my detox needs, therapy needs, or both?
- Is there a member of staff assigned to me personally?
A Day In The Life
Tell me about the daily routine in treatment?
It can be tricky to discern exactly what happens each day in treatment, as the routine can vary.
In treatment, you should receive some form of agenda for each day of the week. This will give a clear indication of what activities happen when, where, and what's expected of you.
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. Depending on usage levels, many will be able to progress to the next stage of treatment after just a few days. Others may take 7 days or longer. This variation is natural.
Also, make sure to ask to arrange a visit to look around the clinic, first.
KEY QUESTIONS
- How can I see what's inside the clinic, online?
- Do you have sample daily agendas for treatment I can look at?
- Is it possible to arrange a pre-admission visit, to look around? Is there any charge attached?
- When do you expect me to start taking part in the therapy process?
Addiction Treatment & Covid-19
Rehab is almost always a group exercise, even at higher end clinics.
In fact, a big part of recovering in the longer term, is re-learning to interact with others, and break the old patterns of isolation.
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 - Managing The Budget For Treatment
Decide firstly, are you going down the public or private route?
Third sector organisations providing full stack care (detox, therapy, aftercare) under one roof are few and far between, but worth investigating in your area.
If you're tempted to opt for the cheapest clinic straight away, think twice.
Double check standards of care and therapy provided for lower cost providers - you may be surprised. Opt instead for a middle-tier clinic, with a better balance of cost to care levels provided.
Call round a few providers, using our cheatsheet if needed - and get a feel for pricing, and whether they can meet your needs comfortably. Don't commit to anything just yet.
Options Beyond Rehab
Local Mutual Aid Meetings
Most cities and towns across the world play host to mutual aid style meetings locally, like the 12 step driven groups of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
However, specialist medical help will be required to kick start the journey with detox, which cannot be obtained via such community groups.
AA, NA, and the big book groups have millions of followers and attendees, and have been very successful over the years. But at the early stages, it's important to get safe and comfortable professional help to detox.
Community Healthcare Options
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.
In reality, where the need for detox is urgent, we often see families and groups of friends pooling funds together, to help a loved one access treatment faster, from a private provider.
Step 4 - Find Objective Reviews
Assessing a provider's standard of care is important - but can be tricky for the layman.
Enter The Care Quality Commission (E&W) and The Care Inspectorate (Scotland).
These regulatory bodies complete inspections to ensure a minimum level of service is met.
Service providers receive a full report on the watchdog's findings.
Regulatory Reviews - The Need To Knows
When looking for CQC or Care Inspectorate reports, always look for those stating the visit was "Unannounced" instead of "Announced" - this means the provider was not aware the inspection was occurring, and hence is most likely to provide most insight into genuine standards of care.
Step 5 - Choose A Clinic
Now that you've read up, and compared a few clinics, it's time to arrange admission.
Normally, the provider will take you through a few initial questions, when you call, to make sure you're a good fit, and will work well together.
After the assessment is complete, the clinic will start making preparations for your stay - to do this, they'll need some commitment from you, in the form of a deposit payment - this holds the room in your name, and allows the team to start making arrangements.
Take the opportunity at this point to arrange payment via insurance policy, if applicable.
Step 6 - Deposits & Paying For Treatment
As above, expect to pay a deposit prior to admission.
Expect to pay anywhere from £1,800 to £4,000 to book a place in a treatment provider's clinic.
The days of clinics offering finance facilities directly, are mostly gone, although a few do still offer in-house plans to pay for treatment.
You should expect some kind of booking confirmation from the provider, usually by email, after any deposit or balance payment is made.
Paying For The Rest Of Treatment
Treatment providers will expect payment for the remainder of the balance of treatment, upon arrival 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:
Rules re mobile phone and device usage varies from clinic to clinic - it's worth checking before you set off - how many devices are allowed, and what the internet usage policy is. Many clinics have a restricted use policy, to keep clients on track.
It's also worth ensuring travel arrangement ahead of schedule - as some providers with have surcharges for late arrival.
And of course, enjoy your recovery!
Print Our Cheatsheet To Easily Compare Providers
Thanks for reading our guide.
Thanks for reading our ultimate guide to finding treatment help in Canton.
Abbeycare's UK clinics have been helping those in Canton.
Since 2005, we've been helping thousands to overcome addiction, comfortably, and safely.
There's no substitute for the years of experience we've had, assisting with even the most complex cases.
Even if you're not local, we can still help with transport into treatment (full transparency - some costs do apply).
Our inspection reports from the regulators, are available on our clinic pages, here: Abbeycare Scotland, Abbeycare Gloucester.
Abbeycare admissions team can advise on options that suit your needs.
Our medical team are ready to help you detox, comfortably.
The Abbeycare therapy team are specialists in helping you identify and work through the underlying triggers behind addiction.
Our clinical team are ready to help you start the journey.
The only question is - are you ready?
We'll help get things moving. Ring us direct, on 01603 513 091.
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