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What are rehabs?

Rehabs are institutions that provide care and support to enable a return to a healthy life after a period of illness. In this context we are concerned with alcohol rehabs which provide care and support for people suffering from alcoholism. Rehabs will usually provide both the medical and psychological care needed to treat alcoholism. As such, in the UK, rehabs will usually provide both alcohol detox and on-going psychological rehab, 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 rehab - twelve step rehabs, therapeutic community rehabs, religious based rehabs, and medical model rehabs. The commonest form of rehabs in the UK is twelve step.
All rehabs tend to share a number of key features. Residents must be drug and alcohol free (apart from tobacco); rehabs 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; rehab centre programme lengths vary between 1 and 9 months. Many rehabs will provide detox in-house when this is necessary, in advance of commencement of the rehab programme.

Residential rehabs versus community (home) treatment

Admission to a rehab centre 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 community services, residential rehabs are likely to achieve comparable outcomes, but treat clients with more severe patterns of addiction, thus indicating greater effectiveness of residential rehabs as compared to community rehab.

Duration of rehab centre stay

Compared to early leavers from rehabs those retained at least 28 days in short rehab centre programmes, and 90 days in longer rehab centre programmes are probably four times less likely to relapse than others, as indicated by some research studies. The issue of retention in rehabs is central to effectiveness, and can be seen as a function of how the rehab centre relates to its clients, rather than the reverse. Rehabs 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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