Drug Addiction Treatment Blog

Pennsylvania drug rehab programs have proven to be quite effective in assisting people in dealing with their drug addiction and alcoholism. Over the years Pennsylvania drug rehabs have seen admissions to their drug rehabs continue to grow. With the increase in admissions to their drug rehab programs has come the need to be able to treat a variety of populations and an increase in addiction treatment services. Unfortunately it appears that Florida drug rehabs have become some of the more creative than Pennsylvania addiction treatment programs with an ever increasing rise in effective addiction treatment outcome.

Compare the LOS between a Florida drug rehab and Pennsylvania drug rehab

For whatever the reason, Florida drug rehabs have been able to design their drug treatment programs in a way to take full advantage of a person’s healthcare benefits. What this translates into is that it provides an individual with a longer stay in their drug rehab program. We know that the longer period of time a person spends in drug rehab, the greater the likely hood they will avoid relapse. The average length of time a person can spend in a Pennsylvania drug rehab is approximately 26 days, while Florida drug rehabs report lengths of stay as long as 42 days.

Secondly, most drug rehabs in Pennsylvania provide the majority of their residential addiction treatment services within the drug treatment center itself. Whle it certainly provides structure, spending all your time within the confines of a drug treatment center does not lend itself to “real world” experiences. Many of the drug treatment centers in Florida have as part of their addiction treatment experience, the inclusion of a stay within an recovery oriented apartment complex. These people are still patients of the drug rehab and attend full days of clinincal activities, but are provided the opportunity to interact with the real world. No patient is allowed to transition to this level of care unless clinical appropriate.

Lastly, drug rehabs in Florida seem to have developed more effective specialty addiction treatment programs for patients. Drug and alcohol treatment programs effectively treating the LGBT population have sprung up over the last few years. One of the more popular gay friendly drug rehabs is located in Jacksonville, Florida called Freedom Rings. Not every drug treatment program is “gay friendly”, so if this is of importance to you, take your time in making your decision.

To obtain a list of drug rehabs in Florida or drug rehabs in Pennsylvania, you might want to go to www.recoveryconnection.org, 1-800-511-9225 a national drug rehab helpline and informational source. If you are looking for a drug detox program or alcohol detox program, go to www.99detox.com, a national drug detox directory.

Bookmark to:

There are several types of drug treatment programs. How you are treated usually depends on a number of factors. An addiction treatment program that may work for one person will not necessarily work for another. A drug treatment program needs to be matched to the individual’s problems and needs. This is critical in his or her success in re-entering society as a normal, functioning person. In order to be effective, drug addiction treatment should address the individual’s multiple needs, not just his or her drug use.
Patients may require a combination of addiction treatment services in order to be successful. Besides counseling, he or she may need medication, family therapy or social and legal services. An individual’s treatment and services shoulder be continually assessed and modified to meet his or her needs.
Different types of addiction treatment programs include:

Agonist Maintenance Treatment, Narcotic Antagonist Treatment Using Naltrexone, Outpatient Drug-Free Treatment, Long-Term Residential Addiction Treatment, Short-Term Residential Addiction Treatment Program, Medical Detox, and others.

Let’s look at the above drug treatment programs and how drug addiction is approached in each.
• Agonist Maintenance Treatment - This addiction treatment is used for opiate addiction and is often conducted in an outpatient setting. These are usually referred to as Methadone addiction treatment programs. This drug treatment program works by using a long-acting synthetic opiate medication, usually methadone or LAAM, and buprenorphine (Subutex, Suboxone). It is given orally for a period of time to prevent opiate withdrawal and decrease the person’s craving for opiates.
• Narcotic Antagonist Treatment - Using Nature for opiate addiction, this drug treatment program is usually in an outpatient setting after medical detox in a residential addiction treatment setting. It is a long-acting synthetic opiate antagonist taken orally daily or up to three times a week for a period of time. The theory is that over time it will gradually break the opiate addiction.
• Outpatient Drug Addiction Treatment - This type of drug treatment program is usually less costly than others. It may include drug education and admonition, intensive day treatment and group counseling. Some of these addiction treatment programs are also designed to treat an individual’s medical or mental health problems in addition to their addiction.
• Long-Term Residential Addiction Treatment - This type of drug addiction treatment provides 24 hours of care a day, in a non-hospital setting generally. These require lengthy stays of 6-12 months. These focus on the re socialization of the addict. This type of drug addiction treatment is highly structured and at times confrontational.
• Short-Term Residential Addiction Treatment - Providing intensive but brief drug addiction treatment, these addiction treatment programs are based on a modified 12-step approach.
• Medical Detox - This process treats a patient by systematically withdrawing him or her from the drug they have an addiction to. Medications are used, as in opiate detox from opiates and other addicting substances such as nicotine and alcohol. The medical detox program is not designed to address the issues of social, psychological and behavioral problems of the addict. It is most useful when incorporated with formal processes of assessment and subsequent drug addiction treatment.
Research has demonstrated that some of the most effective addiction treatment programs are located in the state of Florida. Florida addiction treatment programs have become creative and quite progressive in drug addiction treatment. Rather than just stay with the “old” 28 day addiction treatment model, Florida drug treatment programs provide various levels of care for their patients, in conjunction with a variety of living environments.
To locate an effective Florida addiction treatment program, simply call the Florida addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225 or go to www.recoveryconnection.org.

Bookmark to:

Admissions for addiction treatment in Pennsylvania increased by more than 6 percent this year, following a 17 percent increase in addiction treatment program admissions the previous year. In the latest year, 92,224 addiction treatment admissions were logged, up from 86,908 in 2003-04 and 74,281 in 2002-03.

Many factors in Pennsylvania pushed the numbers higher. Drug rehab program professionals cited availability of all types of illegal drugs, more numerous employee assistance programs that steer addicts toward addiction treatment programs, and DUI classes where instructors identify people who are in need alcohol treatment programs in Pennsylvania. It is believed that the numbers Pennsylvania is showing are the same on a national basis.

Pennsylvania allocates about $100 million annually to 350 administrative authorities around the state of Pennsylvania to contract with addiction treatment centers to provide drug and alcohol services. If addiction treatment episodes are increasing, then “it is costing the commonwealth of Pennsylvania more money.

Alcohol remains the primary drug of choice among those seeking drug rehab, with 35,155 treatment episodes in the latest year. Drug rehab admissions for people addicted to heroin declined less than 2 percent in the latest year, to 20,668, following a jump of 25 percent from 16,811 in 2002-03 to 21,043 in 2003-04.

Since 1999, Mazzitti and Sullivan, a Harrisburg, Pa-based addiction treatment program in Pennsylvania, has seen a steady rise in the number of people seeking help with heroin addiction and other opiate addictions.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area drug rehab programs run by Gaudenzia Inc., one of the largest addiction treatment providers, the number of clients who indicated heroin was their primary drug increased to 26 percent of clients in the most recent year, from 19 percent the previous year.

The statistics highlight the need for healthy funding of drug rehab programs in Pennsylvania, he said. Research has shown that “for every dollar you put into a drug rehab experience, it is about $7 saved somewhere else,” he said. Those savings include money spent on prosecuting and incarcerating drug-using criminals.

If you are looking for a Pennsylvania drug rehab you can call the national drug rehab helpline at 1-800-511-9225.

Bookmark to:

Every person in need of a drug rehab deserves the right to experience addiction treatment in a quality drug rehab program. Unfortunately so many drug rehabs today are designed for profit and not quality addiction treatment, these drug rehabs are few and far between. Research has shown us several things as it relates to quality of care in drug rehab programs;

* the longer a person spends in drug rehab, the better the addiction treatment outcome

* the more specialty groups in drug rehab, the greater the chance your core issues will be addressed

* the more levels of care available in the drug rehab center, the more recovery expreiences the patient will have

Addiction Treatment Center Services

This being said, many addiction treatment centers do not offer all of these services due to the additional costs associated with them. For a patient to enter an addiction treatment center and just be provided with a drug detox program and residential addiction treatment is a dis-service to the patient.

A full service drug rehab or addiction treatment center should have its own drug detox program, residential drug rehab, partial hospitalization addiction treatment component, outpatient addiction treatment and most importantly, its own recovery apartments. An addiction treatment center such as this will cost more to operate, but will also be well on their way to providing state of the art addiction treatment.

Clinical Services in the Drug Rehab Center

From a clinical perspective the specialty groups mentioned above should include but not be limited to; codependency, relapse prevention, aftercare planning, sexual trauma, eating disorders, as well as, groups for the LGBT population. Just as a person with an eating disorder may not be comfortable discussing binging and purging in front of people with no history of those eating disorder behaviors, a gay, lesbian or bisexual may not feel safe in discussing coming out or internalized homophobia. The LGBT population does not require a seperate drug rehab program, but they deserve to have a “safe setting” in which to deal with their issues.

All of the above, cost extra money to provide, but can make the difference between life and death for the patient in the drug rehab center. To locate a drug rehab center that can make a difference you can call the national addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225.

Bookmark to: