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
Having newly made the life changing decision to get help can feel rejuvenating....as well as more than a little vulnerable. But considering first, what your treatment needs truly are, can help you pay for rehab just once, and not twice.
Detox Only, Or A Complete Recovery Programme?
A normal stay for alcohol or drug treatment would include the three stages of detoxification, rehabilitation, and aftercare planning. But there's no point in spending more than you have to.
Discovering Aberaman's comeback.
- Unsure if you need detox, rehab, aftercare, or all 3? Think about this carefully.
Opting for the full package will provide more support, but think about if it's necessary.
Treatment Near Moreton
The convenience of a nearby clinic can seem appealing when feeling in need of detox.
Make comparisons instead, against level of care, support, and independent reviews from The Care Quality Commission (England & Wales) or The Care Inspectorate (Scotland).
Therapy levels vary wildly from clinic to clinic, and therapist to therapist. What feedback do you have on the clinic you plan to attend? Just a few minutes work here, can pay off down the line.
See all the locations Abbeycare serve, here.
If You Have Complex Needs
Getting the right help means being picky about the support you'll receive while in treatment.
This can be especially important where you have complex drug or alcohol detox needs.
The medical team at a given clinic have the final say of course, but the admissions team for a provider should be well-versed enough to give you an idea of how your detox will proceed.
Does the medical team at a given clinic specialise in addiction? Or do they practice in more general matters, with addiction as a second interest?
KEY QUESTIONS
- Can you easily accommodate my detox needs?
- What addiction experience do your prescribing professionals have?
- Are there suitable staff in the clinic who are equipped to handle detox complications?
Step 2 - What Happens In Rehab?
What should I expect, inside an addiction clinic?
Private rehab clinics are centres where all the normal addiction treatment options like detox, therapy, and relapse prevention, are provided in a private setting, all under one roof, with specialists in the field. With your own room, and seclusion away from the addiction triggers in normal life, you have a chance to truly recover.
The clinic you enquire with, have to make sure they can look after you and your needs for detox and rehab. They'll ask some standard questions about your usage, and history with addiction. This is normal, and it's important for them to rule out extreme cases where their environment may not be safe, or provide a comfortable detox experience.
Keeping Track Of Getting Better
After admission to a clinic, staff will usually look to plan out your care in the clinic, and how that will work, for you personally.
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.
This is your opportunity to make sure your key sticking points, triggers, and recurring issues, are factored in, and will get appropriate attention during your stay. This part is important and can determine your progress later, so don't skip it.
KEY QUESTIONS
- What sort of care planning takes place when I enter the clinic?
- How do I make sure I stay on track during treatment?
- Do you take account of my history of addiction when making treatment care plans?
- How is my treatment regimen communicated between staff members?
A Day In The Life
Tell me about the daily routine in treatment?
Without actually being in the clinic, the closest you can get is to ask questions about the daily experience of life in the clinic.
Clinic operators must keep an entire group of clients on track every day. This can only be achieved when everyone works from the same daily schedule. This agenda is a good guide to what happens each day and what you'll be involved in.
Factors such as previous detoxes, history of relapse, amount and duration of intake, and others, will determine how long the detox stage of treatment takes. Getting clear of the physical effects of alcohol or substance misuse in detox could take 3-6 days, for lighter use cases. Others may take 7 days or longer. This is normal.
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?
- Give me an idea of how each day is structured, whilst in treatment?
- Do you offer the opportunity to look around the clinic before admitting?
- Based on my information, how quickly would you want me to start taking part in the therapy schedule, following detox?
Addiction Treatment & Covid-19
They say, that rehab and recovery are team sports.
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 - Planning The Financials Of Rehab
Decide firstly, are you going down the public or private route?
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.
If you're tempted to opt for the cheapest clinic straight away, think twice.
Instead, to keep costs reasonable but standards high, consider providers further afield, or smaller clinics with a lower headcount and rural location.
Use this step to get a clear idea of what rough budget you can commit to treatment, ringing round a few providers for initial pricing if needed.
Looking Beyond Clinic Treatment
AA/NA/GA Meetings
Most locations hold local Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings which can assist in the mutual aid and social elements of recovery.
Sadly, community aids like this are unable to help with the most acute phase, needed at the start of recovery - detox.
Mutual aid meetings have earned their place in everyone's recovery. But initially, it's important to get professional help to detox safely, and comfortably.
Community Healthcare Options
In the first instance, it's possible to present to your GP and discuss the possibility of referral to your local addictions team, in the NHS. They will usually help you monitor the effects of addiction in your life, but are unable to refer or provide funding for immediate detox, in most cases.
This is not a question of lack of intention to help, but more of resources and strain the healthcare system experiences, under heavy demand.
More often, where a genuine need for short term detox exists, it's more common to see loved ones and family pulling funds together to help someone get help.
Step 4 - Get Independent Reviews
Review platforms are widespread nowadays and some reviews are not always trustworthy.
In these situations we need an independent and impartial regulator's opinion - in this case, The Care Quality Commission (CQC) for England and Wales, and The Care Inspectorate, for Scotland.
These regulatory bodies complete inspections to ensure a minimum level of service is met.
Clinics are reviewed on quality and expertise of their service, staff, and care levels provided.
Regulatory Reviews - The Need To Knows
On paper, a visit by regulators to a clinic can be "Announced", or "Unannounced" - the former means the clinic knew about the inspection in advance, the latter means they didn't. Hence, "Unannounced" inspection reports are more likely to provide a real-world picture of clinic conditions and service levels.
Step 5 - Choose A Clinic
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.
An assessment shouldn’t normally take more than 20 minutes, after which you can pay any required financial deposit over the phone and expect some form of booking confirmation and receipt of payment.
Now is also the time to finalise any other arrangements re payment, like paying via insurance policy.
Step 6 - Financing Treatment
As mentioned, an initial deposit payment is usually expected.
Because the total booking value is high, even a small percentage deposit could work out anywhere from £2,000 - £4,000 for the higher end providers.
The days of clinics offering finance facilities directly, are mostly gone, although a few do still offer in-house plans to pay for treatment.
Ask for an email confirmation of booking, and get clarity on when the admission details will be finalised, and your date of admission confirmed.
Paying For The Rest Of Treatment
The provider will likely ask you to settle the remainder of the treatment balance due, after arrival at the clinic.
It’s worth making the effort to settle this on time, as some providers can levy surcharges for late payment, and this quickly adds up, on larger balances.
Step 7 - Admit to treatment
By now, you should have an agreed time and date of arrival at a clinic.
You'll need to bring a few basic necessities with you:
Make sure to check paperwork for any restrictions on device usage (not all clinics allow this), internet access, and visits from family.
Treatment centres must co-ordinate their clinical and medical teams availability for your arrival - so being on time matters. Try to arrange your transport to the clinic, ahead of time, to make sure things run smoothly.
At this point, congratulations! Your recovery journey has already begun.
Are You Asking The Right Questions?
Thanks for reading our guide.
Thanks so much for reading our buyer's guide.
Abbeycare have central UK locations, and serve the Moreton area.
We've helped hundreds (thousands probably) move beyond addiction, and start a new life.
There's no substitute for the years of experience we've had, assisting with even the most complex cases.
Our team can even get transport organised too, if needed, from your location (with an extra charge).
Our clinic inspection reports are available on the relevent service pages: Abbeycare Scotland, Abbeycare Gloucester.
Our admissions team can advise on what options are available.
Detox is available, with comfort and safety, with the help of our medical team.
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?
To get your questions answered, or to get started in recovery, our team can help, on 01603 513 091.
