If you are dependent on drugs or alcohol, your recovery should continue despite the coronavirus crisis. Our rehab centers remain open, thanks to committed staff members who continue to help clients prepare for drug-free living. Learn more about our efforts to keep our facility, staff, and clients free of COVID-19 and to ensure your safety at rehab.
Coronavirus and Those with Substance Use Disorders
Many people with substance use disorders have ongoing illnesses, such as kidney, heart, and liver ailments. This puts them at a greater risk of getting Coronavirus. Those with SUDs may also be part of a lower income group with less access to quality health care.
Coronavirus attacks the lungs, wreaking havoc on the respiratory symptom. If you smoke marijuana or tobacco or vape, the coronavirus has a more severe impact on your body. Further, if you have opioid or methamphetamine use disorder, you have a higher risk of lung injury, including death.
Social distancing puts a higher strain on those in recovery. Maybe individual and group therapies rely on clients making new connections to replace friends and associates that put their sobriety at risk. With large physical distances in effect for safety at rehab, group therapy sessions lose the aspect of intimacy. Therefore, therapists and counselors have to come up with creative ways to give you the skills you need to address cravings and avoid relapse.
Safety at Rehab During COVID-19
New policies address safety at rehab during the pandemic.
In addition to following the recommendations of public health officials, we have implemented the following precautions:
- Screen before arrival: Before clients arrive at the clinic, they go through a thorough screening process. Screening professionals ask whether the prospective client has any of the major symptoms, such as a cough, fever, or shortness of breath
- Waiting room precautions: While waiting for admission, we ask clients to practice sneeze and cough etiquette. Those waiting for service should remain six feet apart. Finally, if new clients become ill, we put them in their own room and quarantine them until a determination on their health becomes available.
- New Group Therapy Model: During recovery evidenced-based behavioral therapies play a key role in our treatment plans. As part of a normal group therapy session, clients get together in a small space to share their most vulnerable thoughts and experiences. Now, group therapy sessions often occur outside or with the appropriate social distancing model in place.
- Telehealth services: As part of our strategy to ensure safety at rehab, we may employ telehealth services. This enables therapists and clients to interact online without fear of spreading the virus.
Facility Cleanliness
To ensure your safety at rehab, we have implemented a widespread strategy to ensure that staff members frequently disinfect surfaces. This includes desks, doorknobs, stairwell railings, kitchen tables, and other objects clients may come into contact with.
We encourage staff and clients to wash their hands with warm soap and water often. Hand sanitizer available throughout the facility helps everyone to make sure they don’t spread the virus through touch.
With these precautions in place, addiction treatment centers can prevent further illness without making clients postpone their recovery. Once the Coronavirus abates, we will continue to monitor the physical and mental state of clients through our aftercare programs.
A Brighter Future
Even in uncertain times, it’s nice to know you can count on experienced therapists and medical staff to get you through the first critical days of recovery. With social distancing, proper hygiene, and the help of public health officials, we will all get through the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other side of a successful recovery program and safety at rehab, you will walk away with the tools you need to avoid a relapse and embrace a more productive life. Contact Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston today to speak to a mental health professional. Call 866.516.8356 today.
