Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Canada Drug Treatment Centers

National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP) - an initiative of Health Canada (a federal department responsible for the health care system in Canada) - supports the largest number of residential drug treatment centers in the country. There are approximately 54 treatment centers, with 700 in-patient treatment beds. These centers aim to reduce the level of drug use among the on-reserve population.

More than 1,000 addiction treatment centers are available in the country. These include outpatient treatment centers, solvent abuse treatment centers, inpatient treatment centers, family treatment centers, and drug treatment centers serving the youth. These centers offer treatments on a day-patient, out-patient and in-patient basis. Both short-term and long-term residential care services are offered.

The services offered by the treatment centers are targeted in three key areas - prevention, intervention, and aftercare. As part of prevention, the treatment centers conduct public awareness campaigns, meetings, cultural, and spiritual events. School-based drug rehabilitation programs are also organized. Intervention activities are excellent tools to deal with the existing drug abuse problems in the society. These include recreation activities for the youth, native cultural and social programs, and discussion groups.

Aftercare is very essential for relapse prevention. For this, the drug treatment centers in Canada provide counseling, case management, and crisis intervention. They also provide treatment referrals, detox referrals, social service referrals, and medical referrals. Outreach visits are also conducted.

Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) - an agency of the government of Alberta - offers prevention and treatment services to help drug addicts and their families. The AADAC Business and Industry Clinic is committed to provide residential treatment programs for employees at the workplace. It provides 24 hour detoxification services, family programs, and follow-up programs.

Aventa is the only agency in Western Canada providing addiction treatment for women. Located in Calgary, it provides treatment on both outpatient and residential basis. Other popular Canadian drug treatment centers are Harvest House, Homewood Health Centre, Edgewood, Clear Haven Substance Abuse Treatment Center, and Lake Simcoe Manor.