Residential rehabilitation pathways: lived experience interviews

2. Methodology

Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were undertaken with nine^[1] people with lived experience of having accessed residential rehabilitation^[2]. Individuals were recruited through a number of third-sector organisations involved in alcohol and/or drugs. These included the Scottish Recovery Consortium (SRC); Restoration Fife; and Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP), a statutory residential rehabilitation provider.

In order to ensure that participants' experiences were as pertinent to current experiences of residential rehabilitation^[3] in Scotland as possible, individuals who had accessed residential rehabilitation in the last ten years were included in the sample. It is important to note that the experiences of these individuals primarily predate the recent increase in Scottish Government funding and the development of pathways into residential rehabilitation across Scotland. While such a small sample is not generalizable to the population of all individuals accessing residential rehabilitation across Scotland, effort was taken to ensure that participants were recruited from a broad range of Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) areas and providers, and that the sample was diverse in both demographics and individual experiences – whether positive or negative – of residential rehabilitation^[4].

Six men and three women took part in interviews. These participants ranged in age from 38 to 62 years, with an average age of 46 years. Participants were from five different ADP areas; Dundee City (n=1), Edinburgh City (n=2), Fife (n=2), Forth Valley (n=3) and South Lanarkshire (n=1). They reported a range of main substances for which they were seeking residential rehabilitation; primarily heroin (n=4), alcohol (n=3) and benzodiazepines (n=1). The majority (n=6) reported using other substances alongside their main substance, including alcohol, benzodiazepines and cocaine. Three participants used methadone, including one participant who had stopped previous heroin use but was seeking residential rehabilitation specifically to come off methadone. Participants attended a range of residential rehabilitation facilities across Scotland, including private (n=2), statutory (n=2) and third-sector (n=4) providers. Four participants reported more than one placement in residential rehabilitation; three of these having attended twice, and one having attended five times before sustaining recovery for over a decade.

The interview questions (Appendix 1) sought to place focus on aspects of the rehabilitation journey which were also covered in the previous ADP and providers' surveys, including the processes of referral and gaining access to funding, the preparatory and residential stage, and aftercare. Within these broad topics, the interviews allowed for flexibility in order to focus on experiences which were deemed of importance to the interviewee.

All data has been anonymised, with pseudonyms given to participants and any potential personal identifiers altered within quotes. APS Group Scotland were used to transcribe these interviews, but no personal information was shared besides the audio files, and a data sharing agreement was in place.

One participant, reflecting on the interview process, noted that they were glad of how this research specifically sought to engage and learn from people with lived and living experience of residential rehab. They mentioned that people with lived experience were often drawn upon by statutory and third-sector organisations across the sector in a tokenistic manner.

Data was collected between the 10th January and 2nd February 2022. All interviews were carried out online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.