What are Alcohol Centers?

Alcohol centers are institutions that provide care and support for people suffering from alcoholism. Alcohol centers will usually provide both the medical and psychological care needed to treat alcoholism. As such, in the UK, alcohol centers will usually provide both alcohol detox and on-going psychological rehabilitation, both of which are commonly necessary to achieve recovery from alcoholism.

As far as the psychological element of treatment is concerned, there are various types of alcohol center - twelve step alcohol centers, therapeutic community alcohol centers, religious based alcohol centers, and medical model alcohol centers. Most commonly alcohol centers in the UK are twelve step.

All alcohol centers tend to share a number of key features. Residents must be drug and alcohol free (apart from tobacco); alcohol centers provide a structured programme of psychological, educational and social therapy, which aims at preparing the alcoholic or addict to manage better an alcohol free life back in society; programme lengths in alcohol centers vary between 1 and 9 months. Many alcohol centers will provide detox in-house when this is necessary, in advance of commencement of the rehabilitation programme.

Alcohol centers versus community (home) treatment

Admission to an alcohol center for a period of residential treatment, appears to present a higher probability of successful outcome than does community based treatment. A 1996 follow-up study, conducted as part of the National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS) indicated the following (Gossop M et al, 1999): When compared to the community services, residential alcohol centers are likely to achieve comparable outcomes, but treat clients with more severe patterns of addiction, thus indicating greater effectiveness of residential alcohol centers as compared to community rehabilitation.

Duration of stay in alcohol centers

Compared to early leavers from alcohol centers, those retained at least 28 days in short alcohol center programmes, and 90 days in longer alcohol center programmes are probably four times less likely to relapse than others, as indicated by some research studies. The issue of retention in alcohol centers is central to effectiveness, and can be seen as a function of how alcohol centers relate to their clients, rather than the reverse. Alcohol centers which actively engage with clients, provide supportive environments and well structured programmes, which are clear about their policies and their therapies, and which tailor their activities to individual needs produce better outcomes.

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