Government guide calls for recovering addicts to help design new treatments

Recovering alcohol and drug users are to be called upon to lead service planning for the treatment of people with similar substance abuse problems.

Public Health England has launched a new guide showing the benefits of involving recovering addicts in the design and development of treatment and recovery strategies for themselves and others.

It describes four different levels of service user involvement, from co-developing one's own care plan through to initiating and running recovery-focused enterprises, while showcasing a number of examples of services that have been set up or run by former users.

They include RECOVER, a furniture up-cycling project in Hertfordshire that was established and continues to be managed by those in recovery.

The government believes the involvement of such individuals in these services adds to their credibility, while their success stories help to motivate those still working to achieve recovery.

Rosanna O'Connor, director of alcohol, drugs and tobacco at Public Health England, said: "Those who have recovered from addiction themselves have the experiences, and often the expertise, to help others and can make an important contribution to the development of successful services."