1. Numerous Treatment Options

One of the important qualities to look for in a narcotics rehab program are numerous treatment options. While “several options are available for effectively treating prescription opioid addiction” as well as illicit narcotic addictions, they mostly fall under two categories: medication and therapy (NIDA). However, three types of medications exist which can be used to treat narcotic addiction (buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone) and several behavioral options exist as well (contingency management, group therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, etc).

Finding a facility that provides more than one of each type of treatment will allow you to choose which works best for you and to switch if one becomes less effective while being able to continue being treated at the same facility. Also some facilities offer holistic treatments which can help you further personalize your treatment program.

2. Caring Healthcare Professionals

Patients who attend facilities with caring and helpful doctors, nurses, and counselors feel more comfortable in their treatments and more able to ask for help. For someone who is attending a facility where they like the staff, there is also a higher chance of them staying in treatment for a longer period of time. And, according to the NIDA, “research has show unequivocally that good outcomes are contingent on adequate treatment length.”

3. Accessibility

It is important that your rehab facility, whether inpatient-based, outpatient-based, or another type of program altogether, be accessible to you. Treatment needs to be easily accessible to patients in order to work, and those who have to drive very far for treatment, jump through many hoops to get a spot, or experience other issues are less likely to continue with treatment than those who can attend easily and without going out of their way. This makes it easier and more likely for a patient to continue to attend in the long term.

4. Flexibility

According to the NIDA, “An individual’s treatment and services plan must be assessed continually and modified as necessary to ensure that it meets his or her changing needs.” This is why a narcotics rehab program must be flexible; a person may not need the same treatment plan or even the same treatments all throughout their attendance in rehab. Patients need to find a program that has options for those changing needs and, if necessary, will recommend them to another facility or program, even and especially after their time at the original rehab center has ended.

5. All-Encompassing Treatment

Some patients need treatment for co-occurring mental disorders that are feeding into their addictions to narcotics; others have health issues that need to be addressed. Still other individuals may need vocational counseling, family counseling, or other types of help for certain aspects of their lives that were hurt by their drug abuse. Rehab programs that help with these issues, and not just those which are directly related to the individual’s drug abuse, are particularly beneficial and give a patient a more well-rounded recovery that often lasts longer as well.