ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the range of residential services offered, discusses how clients may be ‘matched’ with an appropriate placement and examines best practice in order to increase the likelihood of success. The 1996 Task Force Review states that there are 1 279 residential rehabilitation places situated in 70 centres throughout the UK, with the majority run by the voluntary sector. Residential rehabilitation programmes traditionally required a considerable commitment from the drug user with programmes of 12–18-month duration being commonplace. As residential rehabilitation centres offer a more concentrated and intensive therapeutic experience than can realistically be offered in the community, they tend to deal with individuals who are more heavily dependent on illicit drugs and who have been unable to use mainstream treatments successfully. When compared with those in the other areas of treatment, the residential rehabilitation cohort was similar in terms of age and length of heroin-using career.
