Recovery residences provide a vital tool for initiating and sustaining long-term recovery. They are desirable in their emphasis on structure and community in a recovery setting, their service provision over an extended period of time, and their cost-effectiveness.
Outcome studies show that the longer an individual remains in a recovery or treatment environment, the greater are her or his chances of sustaining recovery.1,2 Unfortunately, people in early recovery often are discharged from institutions or programs only to return to the environment where alcohol or other drug use triggers were experienced and addictive lifestyles were supported. Recovery residences provide a safe, healthy, community-based alternative for facilitating recovery at all stages of the recovery process.
Many convergent pathways to recovery exist, ranging from mutual support groups to professional treatment—each of which may be found in various types and levels of recovery residences. The residential spectrum offers a broad variety in terms of types of communities, intensity of structure, and degrees of services offered. Heretofore the field has lacked uniformity and precision of terms necessary to match presenting needs with the appropriate level of residential support.
The National Association of Recovery Residences (NARR) began in response to a call for residential providers across the service spectrum to create a uniform language and standards for all types of recovery residences. This association has attained a broad reach, finding commonality of standards, practice and language for the vast scope of residential operators. A seminal event of 2011 for the association was the adoption of a national standard for recovery residences, to include universal nomenclature. > > > > Read More
