A quiet revolution is unfolding within the worlds of addiction treatment and recovery support. This revolution is founded on new understandings of the nature of substance use disorders and their management. It calls for shifting the treatment of severe and persistent alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems from an emergency room model of acute care (AC) to a model of sustained recovery management (RM).
The RM model wraps traditional interventions in a continuum of recovery support services spanning the pre-recovery (recovery priming), recovery initiation and stabilization, and recovery maintenance stages of problem resolution. Particularly distinctive is the model’s emphasis on post-treatment monitoring and support; long-term, stage-appropriate recovery education; peer-based recovery coaching; assertive linkage to communities of recovery; and, when needed, early re-intervention.