How is recovery from alcohol or other drug addiction understood and attained?
We mapped the recovery landscape in Bristol by looking at the existing resources related to substance use treatment and recovery in the city and by interviewing individuals in recovery, and professionals working in alcohol or other drug treatment services.
In total, we talked to 146 people experiencing different stages of recovery. We were particularly interested in hearing the voices of those experiencing homelessness, who are far less likely to be receiving help from standardised services.
Key findings
- In general, individuals shared positive feedback regarding detox, OST (opioid substitution treatment) prescribing and harm reduction services.
- However, there was a general agreement that services were less effective at providing holistic support options.
- People asked for groups and things to do that were outside of the current treatment offer, particularly a hub space with educational and creative groups.
- Services are not meeting the needs of homeless people. Homeless people feel underserved by the current set-up
- 86% of people – and 89% of homeless people – said they would use an open-access hub
- 94% said that peer support was helpful. However, the number of people who have received this form of support was low. Only 11% of people currently experiencing homelessness had received mutual aid support.
- Services are very centralised, particularly around St Pauls and the surrounding areas. There is less of a presence of services in the suburban areas of Bristol, such as Hartcliffe, Knowle West and Southmead
This report has been created with support from a wide range of stakeholders from across the city and with funding from Bristol City Council. View or download the full report below.
The findings here demonstrate that breaking the cycle of relapse-recovery requires more than just physical treatment. People need community, friends, work, activities, all of which help them to rebuild their lives – or build their lives in ways they were never able to before. The personal stories underline the conclusion that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to recovery can only have limited success. – Councillor Cara Lavan
Recommendations
Based on the feedback given by participants of this report, the following recommendations are made.
1. Bristol City Council (BCC) should review the types of behaviour change approaches offered within the newly commissioned treatment system and consider ensuring a broader availability of behaviour change approaches, which should be delivered alongside traditional psychoeducational approaches.
2. BCC should consider the availability of a suitably located community hub that would be able to:
- support the practical steps necessary for achieving behavioural change
- offer courses, groups and activities co-facilitated by peers
- allow people the ability to drop in for ad hoc support.
3. The inclusion of Social Activities Coordinators into the treatment system should be considered to ensure meaningful activities, aimed at supporting successful behaviour change to be achieved, are available to people accessing services.
4. BCC should review the delivery of the ARA’s social prescribing model and consider whether this can be rolled out across the wider drug and alcohol system, with due consideration to the issues of judgement and stigma in increasing access to community services.
I would like to express congratulations to all involved in compiling this report. I look forward to seeing how it informs and influences Bristol’s public health officials and recovery services going forward. – Councillor Cara Lavan