The Importance of Results-Driven Addiction Treatment

Thousands of drug addicts and alcoholics have learned how to manage their addictions and gone on to live successful, substance-free lives with the help of residential and outpatient facilities. However, even more people never get the treatment they need to heal, relapsing over and over and bouncing between rehab centers. If you have failed one or more times to achieve your goal of lasting sobriety, it’s not your fault. Instead, it’s likely the treatment options you chose were not results-driven and therefore did not address the root causes of your addiction.

In a groundbreaking five-year study, The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that only about one-tenth of people living with addiction get the help they need to recover, and of those who do receive treatment, an even smaller number get evidence-based care. When you consider that 70 to 80% of the people living with other chronic diseases such as diabetes learn practical techniques for managing their illnesses over the long term, the need for results-driven addiction treatment is painfully clear.

Why Measure Treatment Outcomes?

People searching for addiction treatment options have an overwhelming array of choices, but few ways to pinpoint which providers can deliver effective treatment outcomes. Any number of rehabs can claim to offer high-quality care. However, not all can demonstrate successful long-term results for their clients. Indeed, only a handful of centers around the country measure their results and can provide proof that the services they offer have changed the lives of their clients for the better.

Addiction is a complex disease that affects multiple areas of your life, as well as those who are close to you. The process of addiction recovery is equally multidimensional, extending far beyond the need to stay substance-free and avoid relapsing. The research shows us that scientifically validated treatment approaches are the most successful way to achieve and maintain lifetime sobriety. However, not all treatment providers have the skills and knowledge necessary to provide a full range of evidence-based services, including detox, medication-assisted treatment, dual-diagnosis therapy and aftercare programs.

What to Look for in a Results-Driven Addiction Treatment Program

If you are living with a substance abuse disorder, your chief concern should be finding treatment that works to help you break free of your burdens and learn to live a life with better physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. But it can be hard to know what to look for.

The concept of results-driven, scientifically based practices might be confusing at first. The simplest definition is that evidence-based addiction treatment programming is informed by the results previous clients have achieved. The 12-step approach to recovery and relapse prevention is an excellent example of an evidence-based treatment, since it has proven effective for thousands of recovering addicts since its origin in 1938.

In general, the results-driven approach shares the following characteristics.

1. Medical experts have studied the method and published their research in a peer-reviewed journal.
2. The addiction treatment has achieved specific desired goals.
3. Standards have been developed around the method that allow others to replicate the results. Usually, this means there are written instructions explaining how and with whom providers can use the addiction treatment approach, its overall goals and any other details needed to apply it successfully.
4. The treatment method has provided effective results in more than one environment and for many different people living with various addictions.

Additionally, there should be a consistent way to measure how well the implementation of the treatment method is adhering to the protocol as originally researched and outlined. The ability to track results is the best way to assess the long-term progress clients have made with their recovery after leaving treatment and re-entering the “real world.”

The Beach House Difference

At Beach House, the high priority we place on client outcomes distinguishes us from other treatment centers around the country. An independent third-party provider, Map Health Management, monitors and evaluates our process, as well as our clients’ progress.

Based on the results of a third-party survey of more than 700 Beach House alumni, we can report that only 5% of our clients had returned to substance use at the end of one month after their discharge from treatment, as opposed to 24% of people who had relapsed after leaving other rehab facilities. Additionally, 62% of Beach House clients were either employed or enrolled as full-time students in the previous month, compared to only 49% of alumni from other treatment centers.

These statistics prove that we can provide not only a higher standard of care by emphasizing results-driven treatment, but also that our alumni are more likely to go on to living healthy, substance-free lifestyles armed with the tools we provide for helping them learn how to manage their illness, avoid triggers and cravings and successfully prevent relapse.

If you are living with an addiction and have determined it’s time to change your life for the better, let us show you the way. Contact us at our beautiful Florida facility to get confidential help, 24/7.