User involvement for good addiction treatment
Residents at Alfa-Fredensborg design their own treatment content through user involvement. Success rates and user satisfaction have increased and more people are reaching their goals.
The building block model is designed to give citizens as much influence as possible over their own treatment. At the same time, the therapist follows the citizen’s process, close to the sidelines, and is always ready to give a helping hand when the citizen wants it.
This more restrained and inquisitive approach gives the citizen room to develop him/herself and influence his/her own processes.
In practical terms, this means that the resident arrives at Alfa with a treatment plan for their stay. The objectives of this plan are maintained and more objectives may be added.
Once the resident has completed their screening/integration, they begin to build their treatment with their therapist.
The citizen’s plan is continuously reviewed so that the treatment always strives towards the goal and at the same time makes sense for the individual.
A new break with habit
This is a break with the old habit of thinking that the therapist is the expert on how the citizen should live a happy life. Previously, the therapist knew best, but now the therapist is there to ensure that it is the citizen’s own dreams and goals that are being worked on.
The role of the practitioner is to be coaching, supportive and curious at the level of the citizen. At the same time, the therapist must help the resident to ensure that the content of their treatment points towards the goals set out in the treatment plan.
At Alfa-Fredensborg, with this new approach, citizens can undergo a tailor-made treatment with possible medical treatment, group therapy, psychologist, psychotherapy, relapse prevention, mindfulness, yoga, physical training, family involvement, workshops, etc.
All set out in their own personal weekly schedule.
The benefits
The benefits of this approach are that the resident has much greater ownership of their own treatment and process. They develop their capacity for self-reflection and their self-esteem increases as they achieve their own goals.
For the treatment centre, this means we can have many different personalities and addiction types under one roof. They will all be able to tailor their own treatment content and choose which staff member will help them with the different problem areas in their lives.
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The College at Alfa-Fredensborg
Alfa-Fredensborg was approved in 2019 to offer homeless citizens a place in a hostel, according to SEL § 110. The difference at Alfa Kollegiet, and many other hostels, is the resident must be addiction free. Citizens may be under medical treatment, but there must be no consumption of other intoxicants.
The residents are very happy with the addiction-free environment and there is a really good atmosphere between the residents in the residence and those in residential treatment.
Residents of the Kollegiet who are referred for outpatient treatment or day treatment at Alfa are free to choose the days on which they wish this to take place. In this way, they will also encounter the individual treatment experienced by residents in the rest of the house.
The first 14 days of treatment
The first 14 days are designed to make the resident feel comfortable and familiar with the rhythm of the house. During this period, the citizen learns everyone’s name, gets clarified about any medication and what content their treatment should have most of.
They will also find out about the skills of the different employees and they will be able to choose between them when they start to work more intensively at the personal level.
User involvement
User involvement is not a new concept. This has been difficult to facilitate so far, due to systemic barriers. We have now eliminated these by integrating our medical records system and training the whole organisation in this way of thinking.
You can get some inspiration here, where also other areas, in the social and health field, have started to implement.
Read also: User involvement on the agenda
Price, user satisfaction and quality
Quality and user satisfaction are the only things that increase by using this approach in drug treatment.
We see a clear increase in cohesion, respect for others’ way of life and commitment to self-care.
Read also: Inspection report Alfa-Fredensborg