Earlier this year, Narconon International released a video in which Clark Carr, the president of the organization, discussed the topic of Routine Outcome Monitoring. Also referred to as “ROM,” the program is a system of quality-control protocols that have been implemented over the past few years at the flagship Narconon Arrowhead center in Oklahoma. Narconon has, for more than 40 years, taken an active interest in the well-being and success of the people who have completed the program, but Routine Outcome Monitoring represents a major step forward in formalizing the procedures for following up and in codifying and analyzing the information thereby gathered. In the video, Carr explains that the first round of ROM surveys were gathered in 2006, with a repeat battery of surveys in the following year. In even such a short period of time, there was a significant improvement in terms of all the different measures of success. Narconon graduates who were contacted for the ROM surveys in 2007 were doing better in life in terms of work or school, they were less likely to have gotten in trouble with the law, and — most importantly — they were more likely to have remained clean and sober.
The Routine Outcome Monitoring program was a clear success, and it has been touted as being among the most telling examples of how Narconon goes above and beyond to help the people it serves. Furthermore, the fact that Carr and the organization were releasing the data gathered through the program serves as evidence of their commitment to transparency, inasmuch as they were sharing detailed internal information with the public — something that cannot be said for all addiction treatment providers. Trying to gather detailed information about the success rates of various rehab programs presents a substantial challenge, since few are willing to divulge the information, while others simply are not willing to invest the necessary time and effort to gather the data in the first place. Narconon is different. They do everything that they can to improve on the quality of the service they provide, and they freely share the information from their Routine Outcome Monitoring surveys, not only as evidence of their own effectiveness but also to help others in the field of addiction treatment.
Researchers Tout Workability of Narconon Outcome Monitoring Program
It is in this second vein, of providing guidance and assistance to other drug rehab providers, that Narconon has recently been highlighted by a major research paper published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment. Titled “A Simplified Method for Routine Outcome Monitoring after Drug Abuse Treatment,” the paper details a study conducted by a team of PhDs and researchers including a professor of psychiatry from UCLA. The paper lauds Narconon Arrowhead for developing a follow-up program that is directly in line with what the federal government has been calling for years. “The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment has long advocated strongly that rehab centers monitor their post-treatment outcomes to improve the effectiveness of program delivery.” The paper was not, however, all about praising Narconon for its efforts in monitoring results. It goes on to recommend that the ROM system developed at Narconon Arrowhead could be an effective solution throughout the addiction treatment industry. “The most significant implication may be that this ROM system can be used by any rehab center, not just Narconon, for repeated and regular post-treatment follow-up as a method of quality assurance.” The field of addiction treatment has a spotty reputation, given that results are so variable from program to program, with addicts frequently attending rehab more than once to no avail, and programs failing to live up to lofty promises. It is to be hoped that the recommendations of the study authors will take root and that the ROM program will spread throughout the industry. By implementing such a program, any rehab center can take major strides towards improving the quality of service and increasing the rates of success achieved at the center. In the final equation, this adds up to nothing less than lives saved from addiction, a goal that is entirely worth the efforts of conducting a set of follow-up surveys.
See the full release at:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/outcome-monitoring/narconon-arrowhead/prweb11191714.htm
