UK addiction treatment data tells a consistent story, that many people accessing treatment for substance use are also living with a mental health need.
NHS and OHID data indicate that more than two-thirds of adults starting substance use treatment in England report a mental health treatment need, while the Royal College of Psychiatrists has previously estimated the proportion to be as high as 70% in some settings.
Yet too often, addiction and mental health are still treated as separate problems.
Separate referral criteria. Separate assessments. Separate teams. Separate treatment pathways.
For the individual trying to recover, however, the two may be deeply interconnected.
Why Integrated Care Matters
The principle behind integrated care for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use needs is well established. What remains challenging is creating the infrastructure and pathways that allow it to happen consistently in practice.
Imagine a different starting point. An individual is assessed as a whole person from the outset, rather than their addiction and mental health needs being considered independently.
Clinical teams work from a shared understanding of the person’s needs, risks, strengths and recovery goals.
There are clear step-up and step-down pathways between specialist addiction treatment and mental health services, with continuity of care rather than another referral and another starting point.
And outcomes are measured against the person’s overall recovery and wellbeing – not simply the condition that brought them through the door.
Using Technology to Support Ongoing Recovery
Technology also has an increasingly important role to play. It is not as a replacement for clinical relationships, but another way of maintaining connection and identifying when additional support may be needed.
Digital check-ins, personalised aftercare and appropriate remote monitoring could help identify early warning signs and changes in relapse risk before they develop into a crisis.
Recovery Goes Beyond Clinical Treatment
Sustainable recovery is about much more than clinical treatment. It is about stable accommodation, meaningful activity, employment, relationships, physical health and rebuilding everyday routines can all form part of someone’s continuing recovery.
That means discharge should not represent the end of treatment. It should be another stage in a longer recovery pathway.
Bringing Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Together
None of this requires us to choose between high-quality mental health care and high-quality addiction treatment. It requires us to become better at bringing the two together when an individual needs both.
At IHCM, our growing range of mental health, addiction, rehabilitation, residential and community-based services gives us an opportunity to think differently about how those pathways connect.
The ambition should be straightforward: fewer barriers between services, better continuity of care and recovery pathways designed around the person rather than organisational boundaries.
Making Integrated Care the Norm
There is an opportunity across our sector to do this better.
If you work in commissioning, addiction services, mental health or dual-diagnosis pathways, we would be interested to hear your perspective. What needs to change if truly integrated care is to become the norm rather than the exception?
Talk to IHCM
For more information or to talk to us contact referrals@ihcm.co.uk or 0330 236 8231
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