If you're looking for drug or alcohol addiction help - you'll have already realised the myriad of options on offer. Many simply don't know how to compare treatment providers and end up settling for less.
Here's everything you need to know when buying rehab - including how to ask the right questions and weed out weaker options.
Step 1 - Get Clear On Your Needs
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, Rehab, Or Both?
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.
- Do you need detox, or rehab?
Opting for the full package will provide more support, but think about if it's necessary.
Location, Location, Location?
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).
Therapy levels vary wildly from clinic to clinic, and therapist to therapist. What feedback do you have on the clinic you plan to attend? It pays to shop around here.
See all the locations Abbeycare serve, here.
More Than One Previous Detox?
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.
If you've had detoxes in the past, or complications like liver or other issues, you'll want to be extra careful here.
The clinic team over the phone should be able to give a rough indication of how they'll approach your treatment.
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
- In your experience, would someone with my detox needs be better suited for hospital detox?
- What addiction experience do your prescribing professionals have?
- Will I be able to speak with someone who decides about my detox regimen, once admitted to the clinic?
Step 2 - Understand How Rehab Works
What is the typical admission process?
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).
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.
How Do I Monitor Progress?
Reputable clinics will try to personalise the care you receive, as far as possible.
If staff do not offer to help draw up a personalised care plan of action for your clinic time, and longer recovery journey, you've chosen the wrong provider.
This document will be used as your yardstick to measure progress and keep track. 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?
- Do you have a one size fits all approach to treatment, or do you work with each individual's needs?
- Do you take account of my history of addiction when making treatment care plans?
- Is there continuity whilst in treatment, of who I deal with, each day?
What's Rehab Treatment Like, Day To Day?
What actually happens in a clinic, every day?
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. The agenda lets you know what's happening when, and what activities you should participate in.
Detox from alcohol or substance misuse in a clinic can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on multiple factors. The pace of your treatment can vary. For example, for those with lighter intake levels, progression beyond the detox phase of clinic work can happen in just a few days. Others may take 7 days or longer. There is no fixed timescale for each individual.
Always enquire about having a look around the clinic, by visiting first, before committing. Most clinics don't have an open-door policy, but will happily let you see inside, by arrangement.
KEY QUESTIONS
- What see inside photos do you have, of the clinic, online?
- Do you have sample daily agendas for treatment I can look at?
- How do I arrange to see inside the clinic, before admitting?
- When do I get to start taking part in the therapeutic help inside the clinic?
Addiction Treatment & Covid-19
Few people successfully make it into long term recovery without the help of the bigger group around them.
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.
As you can imagine, the cheapest provider is not always the best.
Cheap providers often involve minimal rooms or living conditions, and poor therapy. Look instead for smaller providers, with more personal attention.
By calling and comparing a few treatment providers against each other, this step should give you a sense of what rehab will cost.
Looking Beyond Clinic Treatment
Mutual Aid Support
Big Book, or 12 step meetings, are available via groups such as AA and NA, across most towns and cities.
Whilst mutual aid plays a big part for many, later in their recovery journey, those at the start will need professional help to detox safely.
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.
NHS/Public Funding Options
Obtaining short-term detox from NHS services is unlikely, due to demand on resources.
Eligibility for short term detox is slim, and is usually restricted to only a handful of cases.
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 - Get Independent Reviews
Reviews of your chosen provider are easy to find on the net, but are they real?
The industry regulators - the Care Quality Commission in England & Wales, and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, publish the only independent reporting on standards available, for private rehab clinics.
The CQC and The Care Inspectorate are the industry regulators, and complete routine inspections of private rehabs, which are often classified under the 'Care Homes' category, in their records.
Clinics are graded across multiple areas of care, including support standards, management, and clinical environment.
How Clinic Inspections Work
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 - Arrange Admission
Now that you've read up, and compared a few clinics, it's time to arrange admission.
It's not uncommon at this point, for the provider to take you a through a number of pre-admission questions, as they have to ensure your suitable for the clinic and its environment.
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.
If you’re paying via an insurance policy, this is the time that will get sorted out also.
Step 6 - Arranging Payment
Most clinics will expect payment of a deposit, toward the full balance of treatment, prior to admitting.
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.
Remaining Balance
The remaining balance is normally paid for on arrival at the clinic, at the point of admission.
To avoid excess charges later, it's best to settle this on time.
Step 7 - Get Started
Make note of the day and time you're due to admit to treatment.
You'll usually be asked to bring certain essentials with you:
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.
At this point, congratulations! Your recovery journey has already begun.
Easy Rehab Q&A Cheatsheet
You've reached the end of our ultimate guide on finding the right rehab!
Thanks for reading our free guide.
Abbeycare's UK clinics are available to those in Robertstown.
We've helped hundreds (thousands probably) move beyond addiction, and start a new life.
All that experience has helped us assist those with even the most complicated detox and rehab needs.
Even if you're not local, we can still help with transport into treatment (full transparency - some costs do apply).
How did we do with inspections from regulators? Check our reports, available on our clinic pages, here: Abbeycare Scotland, and Abbeycare Gloucester.
Our admissions team will help you navigate the treatment options.
The Abbeycare medical team can help you detox comfortably.
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 question is - are you ready?
To ask a question, or to arrange admission, ring our team now on 01603 513 091.
