Quick Guide to Evaluating Addiction Treatment Facilities

How do you choose a facility for addiction treatment that will give you a quality program and meet your needs (or those of a loved one)? Here are some factors to consider.

Matching Treatment Offered to Your Needs

Once your treatment needs are professionally assessed, you can evaluate whether a facility offers the treatment you need and whether it has a strong program in those areas. While most treatment facilities offer the basic types of treatment–inpatient and a few varieties of outpatient–but different facilities will have strengths in different areas.

Medical and Co-occurring Disorder Treatment

Medical treatment and treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders can be important aspects of treatment for those who have ongoing medical or mental health conditions that will be impacted when they stop using drugs or alcohol. It is important for the treatment facility you choose to have the expertise and experience to handle these issues in addition to addiction treatment.

Respectful and Dignified Environment

When choosing an addiction treatment facility, you want to be treated with respect and dignity in all your treatment interactions. Some facilities will address this up front and assure it, while for others you should be able to tell by the atmosphere that respect and dignity are valued and afforded to all.

Family Involvement

Treatment outcomes can be greatly improved with family involvement, and family members can also provide support and help to the person in treatment in many cases. Even negative family dynamics can be addressed in the treatment situation and lead to resolution of some tensions that could be contributing to the addiction.

Retention Efforts

The dropout rates in the first month of treatment are around 50 percent, so retention efforts like clear communication about rules, creating a sense of mutual trust, and motivational incentives for continued attendance can go a long way toward increasing retention and toward ensuring that more of those in treatment get the help they need.

Aftercare Support and Services

Connection to aftercare support shows concern for the long-term sobriety of those in treatment. While aftercare does not necessarily need to be provided onsite, linkage to these services will ensure that those being treated do not just go back to their previous lives without any kind of support and help after leaving treatment.

Avoiding Guarantee of Success

Guaranteeing treatment success is a red flag that the quality of the program may be suspect. Success is up to the individual and the effort he or she makes to follow the program, and can never be guaranteed by a facility because success is not in the control of the facility. While the facility should be optimistic about a person’s prospects for sobriety and successful outcomes, a guarantee is just unrealistic.