How do we measure addiction recovery?
I wanted to share with you our latest Research Snapshot, which looks at a study by Mary Jean Costello and colleagues at Homewood Research Institute and CAMH.
The researchers conducted focus groups with people who had completed inpatient addiction treatment and were enrolled in an aftercare program. The goal was to identify ways to best assess addiction recovery. The questions focused on how those in the groups defined “successful” recovery and what they believe to be particularly harmful or helpful to their recovery.
Their responses fell under four main themes: 1) recovery as an ongoing process; 2) the role of abstinence as a measure of recovery; 3) recovery as a multi-dimensional experience; 4) recovery as an ongoing commitment.
Find out what the research participants had to say and the authors' conclusions by reading our plain-language summary of the paper.
Looks like a good start! As mentioned, the sample group was small and not a representative of the various people in recovery and no one in ‘long term’ recovery.
Figuring out how to measure all of these variables seems like a nearly impossible task, although it would be amazing to discover more about this complicated issue.
Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for your comment! Yes, this is definitely a complex, but an important one!
I'm just thinking out loud here. I am wondering if the rational for abstinence being a measure of success might actually be "biased" if the in-patient treatment parameters only allowed/provided a 12 step/abstinence based recovery option/philosophy?
That's a really great point, @Betty-Lou! The paper says study participants were in an outpatient after care program and had completed a group- and abstinence-based residential addiction treatment program at the same facility, which included recovery-oriented education, skills training, and 12-Step facilitation.
[@mention:309227366772673999] are there any residential programs that aren't abstinence-based, and that don't have roots in the 12-step approach? The ones I've worked in are all abstinence-based and largely staffed and directed by people in 12-step recovery. It'd be interesting to hear about residential facilities that use a harm-reduction approach, if there are any.
Good question, [@mention:366671154996329594]. Let's put it out to the EENet Connect community. Does anyone know of any residential programs that use a harm-reduction approach?
Yes [@mention:366671154996329594] that is exactly what I was trying to diplomatically express. LOL.
I wanted to point out that EENet is hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, December 11th, from 1 to 2 pm, on this very study. The panel will feature Drs. Mary Jean Costello and Brian Rush, who conducted the study, as well as Andrew R.F. Berthelet, who is a peer group facilitator and volunteer at the Community Addictions Peer Support Association (CAPSA). Andrew, who describes himself as "affable fellow" was a member of the Board of Directors of CAPSA from June 2017 to Nov. 2019. He is living in early recovery and continuously engaged in training and education.
I hope you will join us to engage in a conversation about this very important topic!