Benefits of Gender Specific Inpatient Rehab Programs

Gender specific rehab is helpful as it keeps people focused and supported throughout their recovery.

Gender differences create an array of potential circumstances in which substance abuse treatment should be specifically catered to just men, or just women, specifically. For both men and women, the circumstances surrounding addiction can differ so greatly based on societal norms as well as various other factors. While a plethora of potential excuses and justifications may be made by users in an effort to make drug use seem acceptable, the truth is that both men and women make up different excuses to use and based on these excuses, different methods of treatment should provide the focus for recovery.

According to Westminster College, treatment programs cannot efficiently provide treatment for both genders at the same time. Inpatient rehab programs that do not provide gender specific treatment have low retention rates, especially for women. These programs are also overall less effective for women because they tend to focus more on the societal norms of drug use and the pressures faced by men to use.

Benefits of Gender Specific Treatment

Fortunately, gender specific treatment programs do have a number of benefits for patients. Such benefits can range from varying structure that is more focused on the individual and unique needs of the patient to a higher retention rate. Additional benefits of gender specific treatment include:

• Greater emotional support that is geared directly to the unique needs of the man or the woman.
• Medical care that is directly supportive of each gender.
• Less resistance to therapy and counseling because men are more comfortable talking around other men while women feel more comfortable talking around other women.
• Higher retention rates, especially for women as gender specific inpatient rehab programs tailor to their unique needs.
• Greater flexibility for family counseling.
• Reduced risk of relapse. According to a recent study, women who attend gender specific inpatient rehab programs do better in the following 12 months after treatment than those who attended programs that catered to both men and women.
• Improved concentration on needs without distraction from societal norms.
• Gender-specific problems can be worked through more appropriately and effectively.
• Childcare, parenting classes, and similar features that are essential to caretakers, especially to women.

Ultimately, the benefits of gender specific treatment will depend on the type of therapy and counseling that is provided and the measure of address that is taken to ensure that each individual in the program is receiving the care that they need. While many of the issues surrounding substance abuse can be treated in programs that cater to both genders, treatment can be more heavily focused and appropriate in most cases when a single-gender approach is taken.