The Emerging Role of Recovery Support Specialists in Addressing Addiction
The Challenge of Breaking Unhealthy Habits
It’s no secret that breaking habits is a daunting task, especially when it comes to detrimental habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, leading a sedentary lifestyle, and overeating. These habits are contributing to a health crisis among our population.
The Limitations of Traditional Healthcare Providers
Traditionally, doctors are equipped with the skills to diagnose and treat diseases, but they often lack the training to help patients alter their behaviors. This isn’t necessarily a shortcoming on their part, as most physicians, especially general practitioners, already have a full plate. Nurses can offer support and information, but their aid is typically confined to office visits or hospital stays. Until recently, there was a significant gap in the healthcare system: a lack of professionals who could work with patients in the interim periods between appointments or after inpatient treatment.
The Rise of Recovery Support Specialists
Enter recovery support specialists, a class of healthcare para-professionals who are stepping in to fill this void. These specialists are trained to assist individuals in modifying their lifestyles through a personalized approach, employing tools of empathy, motivation, and self-efficacy building. Importantly, one doesn’t need a medical background to become a recovery support specialist.
Timothy Harrington, Chief Empowerment Officer of Sustainable Recovery Coaching Services, emphasizes that a broad skill set is necessary to be effective in this role. For those transitioning from other medical disciplines, it necessitates a shift from the role of expert advisor to that of health facilitator. While physicians act as advisors, setting agendas and treating diseases, recovery support specialists act as partners, drawing out the patient’s agendas and collaboratively finding solutions. The former is crucial for treating illness, the latter for changing habits.
Success Stories and Corporate Adoption
There are plenty of success stories in the literature where health coaches have achieved positive outcomes in programs for smoking cessation, weight loss, and diabetes management. Corporate America is also recognizing the benefits, with major employers like Johnson & Johnson hiring health coaches to reduce medical expenses and productivity losses.
The Road to Mainstream Acceptance
Despite these advancements, the practice of recovery support specialists is yet to become mainstream, and in most cases, it isn’t covered by health insurance. This is partly due to the field being highly fragmented in terms of certification and education. Unlike when you see a board-certified physician, working with a recovery support specialist can be a bit of a gamble as educational programs vary greatly in intensity.
Standardizing the Field of Recovery Support Specialists
To bring uniformity to the emerging field of recovery support specialists, Timothy Harrington is optimistic that there will soon be national-level educational standards, core competencies, and more research demonstrating cost savings.
“There is a significant misunderstanding among most conventional healthcare clinicians about what a recovery support specialist is and how it differs from case management, disease management, nurse education, and health navigators. We need to establish a clear definition and credential clarification to stand our ground in this area where there is a lot of confusion,” Harrington said, discussing the integration of recovery support specialists into mainstream medicine.
When asked if health coaching was an outsider movement, Harrington asserted that recovery support specialists will have a place in the conventional primary care system in the future, especially if there is a revamp of the pay-per-service reimbursement model.
The Future of Addiction Healthcare
Who will revolutionize addiction healthcare? The answer is still up in the air, but recovery support specialists are undoubtedly positioning themselves to be a significant part of the solution.
For more information about how a recovery support specialist can help both treatment providers and the families they serve please click here.
