Recovery Support Services
​
After treatment we at You Can Health Services do not leave patients stranded, we provide recovery support services (RSS) to continue monitoring for patients to sustain long term recovery until they feel confident enough to re-engage in community activities
To reinforce gains made in treatment and to improve their quality of life more generally, recovering adolescents may benefit from recovery support services, which include continuing care, mutual help groups (such as 12-step programs), peer recovery support services, and recovery high schools. Such programs provide a community setting where fellow recovering persons can share their experiences, provide mutual support to each other’s struggles with drug or alcohol problems, and in other ways support a substance-free lifestyle. Note that recovery support services are not substitutes for treatment. Also, the existing research evidence for these approaches (except for Assertive Continuing Care) is preliminary; anecdotal evidence supports the effectiveness of peer recovery support services and recovery high schools, for example, but their efficacy has not been established through controlled trials.
​
Research Supporting Recovery Support Services
​
Addiction treatment and recovery support services have repeatedly been shown to be effective with many people achieving recovery. As with any chronic disease, however, discrete treatment episodes, supported by continuing recovery support services, are often needed to help people achieve and maintain recovery. Treatment for addictive disorders is not typically a “one-shot” type of intervention. Research indicates that cost savings are associated with a chronic care model when compared to an acute care model (Zarkin, Bray, Mitra, Cisler, & Kivlahan, 2005). The Role of Recovery Support Services in Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care White Paper 3 2Recovery capital means the quantity and quality of internal and external resources an individual brings to the initiation and maintenance of recovery (Granfield & Cloud, 1999). A number of studies have been conducted on specific aspects of recovery support services. Several studies indicate that for people with low recovery capital2 and high disease severity, social supports provided by sober living communities are critically important to long-term recovery (Jason, Davis, Ferrari, & Bishop, 2001; Jason, Davis, & Ferrari, 2007). Other studies on recovery support services involving family members and other allies found that providing social supports helps maintain recovery (Gruber & Fleetwood, 2004; Brown & Lewis, 1998). Studies have also shown that providing comprehensive services assists recovery (Pringle et al., 2002) and that strong social supports also improve recovery outcomes (Humphreys, Moos, & Finney, 1995). Research on peer-recovery support, in addition to the many studies that have been conducted on mutual aid groups, provides evidence for the effectiveness of services in supporting recovery (Humphreys et al., 2004).