How to Determine Success of a Substance Abuse Program

Substance abuse programs are thought of as ineffective by many people. This is often due to the difficulty in treating substance abuse. Substance abuse is a challenging disorder to treat because it impacts the physical body and the emotional self. Success of substance abuse programs can be judged in a variety of different ways.

Instructions

How to Determine Success of a Substance Abuse Program

• 1

  Determine the percentage of patients that remain in substance abuse treatment for at least 90 days. Patients that are in treatment for at least 90 days have an 83 percent chance of remaining sober for a year.

• 2

  Determine the percentage of patients that follow up with aftercare treatment. An average of 60 percent of patients that regularly participate in aftercare following treatment remain completely abstinent of drugs and alcohol. This is in comparison to 40 percent of patients that attend aftercare sporadically and 30 percent of patients that never attend aftercare. Therefore, the higher the percentage of the patients that attend an aftercare program following treatment, the higher the overall success rate of the treatment.

• 3

  Inquire about the relapse rate of patients 6 months after leaving treatment. On average, 22 percent of female drug addicts and alcoholics and 32 percent of male drug addicts and alcoholics relapse within 6 months of leaving substance abuse treatment. A lower percentage relapse rate would mean that the program is more successful than average.

• 4

  Ask about how many patients relapse in fewer than 5 years. An average of 54 percent of drug addicts and alcoholics relapse within 5 years of leaving a substance abuse treatment program. Any statistics better than that would mean massive success for the treatment center.