Continuum of care is a personalized, detailed plan of services and resources that a patient needs through the process of seeking help, undergoing various treatments, and staying sober after detox and residential treatment. Ideally, clients will be provided guidance and routine check-ins throughout all levels of care.
Creating a continuum of care is crucial to increase a patient’s success in long-term sobriety. Addiction is a lifelong journey, which means that patients will require support and care for an undefined amount of time.
Without treatment that is based around the continuum of care, patients are less likely to receive the quality care they need. This greatly increases the risk of patients falling through the cracks, relapsing, and overdosing.
Here’s what you need to know about creating the continuum of care at your addiction treatment center.
How to Provide a Continuum of Care
There are some basic steps that all rehabilitation centers should take in order to provide an effective continuum of care. This includes:
- Assessing the extent of a patient’s substance abuse and/or addiction, along with any co-occurring mental health conditions.
- Developing an evidence-based, holistic addiction treatment plan.
- Using proven options such as detox, counseling, and group therapy.
- Evaluating how successful treatment is.
- Developing a plan for ongoing care (i.e., outpatient programs or sober living)
- Offering extended care to ease the transition into independent living
- Monitoring patients periodically to address any issues that may arise
As a patient moves through the continuum of care, you’ll notice that the level and intensity of support gradually decreases. This enables the patient to feel supported without feeling as if the continued care is overbearing.
Personalized Care Is a Must
Addiction is complex, and no two people have the same journey to recovery and sobriety. Someone who has been using drugs for years has very different needs than someone who may have recently become dependent on alcohol.
It’s also important to remember that patients come from all walks of life. Some people have been exposed to trauma and abuse. Others have little to no support system to help guide them during their journey. Some have undiagnosed, co-occuring mental health disorders that must be addressed.
To provide the best continuum of care possible, embrace personalized care for every single patient that walks through your doors. Some of the best services to provide as part of continued care include:
- Outpatient counseling
- Sober living programs
- Intensive outpatient (IOP)
- Sober homes
- 12-Step Program
- Group therapy
- Online counseling
These services provide patients with the support they need immediately and long after they’ve completed a residential treatment program. They also help to ease the transition back into independent living—a step that is daunting for most patients.
Choose RecoverWell to Start a Patient’s Roadmap to Recovery
For those facing addiction, along with the medical providers and social workers that help these patients, the first step is often the hardest one. Once a patient has decided to seek help, the onus is on care providers to lead them in the right direction.
Providers often face all sorts of roadblocks and challenges that make it hard to pair patients with the addiction treatment that they need. This is why RecoverWell was created. Our platform streamlines locating and booking addiction treatment for patients who are facing a life crisis.
This, in turn, not only boosts revenue for rehab centers but saves lives. The faster a patient receives addiction treatment, the increased chance that person has of recovering and leading a sober life.
To learn more or to schedule a demo, contact our team today.
