WERNERSVILLE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an estimated 11.8 million people misused opioids in 2016, and more than 115 people die every day as a result of overdosing. Caron Treatment Centers, which has been treating opioid use disorder with its 60+ years of experience in the field, today announced the creation of a specialized treatment program to address the unique characteristics of opioid use disorder in response to this epidemic.
“Opioid addiction is an illness, one that requires specialized treatment by trained and licensed professionals and a lifetime of careful management,” says Dr. Joseph Garbely, FASAM, Vice President of Medical Services and Medical Director at Caron. “Caron’s multi-pronged, comprehensive treatment program is designed with the unique challenges of opioid addiction in mind. It addresses the disease with evidence-based, proven modalities.”
Sophistication and specialization are key components of Caron’s Opioid Program. The medically driven program employs specialty-trained, certified medical professionals managing all aspects of patient treatment plans. The program’s foundation includes:
- Integrated medical components. Withdrawal symptoms from opioids are intense and pose a strong threat to recovery. Overseen by Caron’s associate medical director and a staff physician, both certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Addiction Medicine – the Caron program is medically driven to ensure the greatest possibility of success.
- Medication as a supportive tool. Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is an important tool that provides the necessary relief from withdrawal and cravings. The medication is managed by qualified healthcare professionals in collaboration with a patient’s treatment specialists as part of their comprehensive therapeutic program, so patients can concentrate on treatment, not debilitating withdrawal symptoms.
- Critical family education and therapy. Caron believes that the patient is the family and the family is the patient, making family therapy integral to recovery and the wellbeing of the family system. The program offers a full-time family, master’s prepared therapist dedicated to the patient and their family.
- Use of technology to monitor progress. The treatment team uses technology-supported care to assess, measure, monitor, and identify common relapse indicators and intervene immediately to change or adjust the treatment plan as needed.
- Ongoing support, monitoring, and care after in-patient treatment. Continued treatment is key to managing the chronic disease of addiction. Before leaving Caron’s campus, each patient will be provided with a long-term, multi-dimensional continuing care plan, that incorporates MAT and opioid-specific continuing care that is available to both patients and their families with supervision for one-year post-treatment.
“We’re focusing on the science of opioid addiction to provide solution-driven care. This program leverages our proven best practices and merges expert level care to fit the physical, mental, and emotional needs of patients and their families, which is the only way to help them successfully navigate long-term treatment. With this approach, we can save lives,” says Dr. Garbely. “Caron has been treating opioid use disorder effectively for decades. However, the current epidemic and the challenges created by it and the new designer forms of opioids led us to create this new program just for opioid addiction.”
About Caron Treatment Centers
With 60 years in the field, Caron Treatment Centers operates lifesaving addiction and behavioral healthcare treatment. Caron is headquartered in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, with Ocean Drive and Caron Renaissance located in Palm Beach County, Florida. Caron has Recovery Centers in New England, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., which offer community and recovery support. Caron’s Recovery Centers in Atlanta and New York City also offer pre- and post-treatment services. Caron has the most extensive continuum of care including teens, young adults, mid-life adults, older adults, chronic pain, executives, healthcare and legal professionals and families. Caron’s treatment is customized to meet the needs of individuals and families – with highly trained teams prepared to address co-occurring disorders. Caron offers an innovative approach to ongoing recovery care support for its patients and their families with online peer groups and other resources during the first year of transition following discharge. For more information on Caron, please visit Caron at www.caron.org or follow us on Twitter @CaronTreatment.