Recovery is not a one-step process. It takes time, and for most people, it simply takes more treatment and effort than what can fit into one program. That’s why each patient at The Blackberry Center receives discharge planning services.
Let’s discuss what discharge planning is, and why it makes such a crucial difference for our patients.
What Is Discharge Planning?
There’s a popular myth that most patients finish treatment, return home, and never have issues again. Unfortunately, it’s just that: a myth.
For most people who receive help with a substance use disorder and/or mental illness, they will need continued care after completing their initial treatment. The process by which our staff determines post-treatment care is called discharge planning, and it’s an important step for our patients.
Say, for example, that you are a patient in our Adult Mental Health Program. Before you graduated from treatment, a member of our care staff would meet with you to discuss your continued needs. They might suggest that you attend an outpatient program to help you transition back to daily life. Or, if you would prefer to go directly home, they would help verify that you have a safe, supportive environment to return to, and perhaps refer you to a counselor for continued care.
Recovery does not end with treatment, and discharge planning exists to keep you healthy and well long after patients have finished a program.
Contact us today to take your first step towards recovery.
How Does Discharge Planning Work?
At The Blackberry Center, we follow the advice, “Begin with the end in mind.” That means that we start discharge planning as soon as patients enter treatment. This process involves a discharge planner meeting with patients to discuss their experiences, goals for treatment, and living situations. The discharge planner then uses this information to help them plan for life after treatment.
And this isn’t all handled in one conversation, either. Our discharge planners regularly check in with patients to see how their treatment is going and to reexamine their goals. If a patient’s goals shift, then their discharge plan can change to match their new priorities.
In some cases, family members may consult with the discharge planner and patient. This makes sure that the discharge plan works in the best interest of the patient, and it helps establish how the patient’s support structure will work post-treatment.
It’s important to remember that patients have an active voice in their discharge planning. Our discharge planners are not here to assign treatments that patients are uncomfortable with. Instead, they work with patients to create long-term recovery solutions.
Get the Help You Need
When a new patient comes to us for treatment, we work with them to ensure that they can make a long-term recovery. That’s the kind of difference that we make at The Blackberry Center. If you have any questions about our discharge planning process or our treatment programs, all you need to do is fill out this contact form or call our admissions staff at (813) 908-4199.
