Care NZ Celebrates New Christchurch Facility

News Release 27 August 2008

Care NZ Celebrates New Christchurch Facility

The Associate Minister of Health, the Hon Jim Anderton, today officially opened the relocated Care NZ Recovery Clinic in Christchurch, one of ten Care NZ clinics operated throughout New Zealand.

Now located at 192 Cashel Street, the Care NZ Recovery Clinic has greater space, enabling them to take on more clinical staff to cope with the demand for its services.

Care NZ’s Canterbury Regional Manager, Bruce Brown said, “The idea for this clinic arose out of our recognition that residential treatment is not suitable for everyone. For many, the prospect of being on an intensive and solitary 8 week programme away from home and off work is simply too much, and while it unpleasant to think of addiction treatment as a luxury, for many people the cost, both financially for private residential care, and time wise, for publicly funded residential facilities that often have waiting lists, is prohibitive. At our new clinic we have increased space and more staff, which will enable us to help more people at a time when cases of alcohol and drug abuse are on the rise.”

The new facility will provide assessments and an Intensive Outpatient Programme (IOP) for up to 12 people at a time, so that up to 30 people can attend daily counselling sessions. Intensive Outpatient Programmes are viewed as being in the middle of the scale between regular outpatient counselling and residential care.

This type of treatment is used widely around the world and is recognised as being a successful treatment path for those with dependency issues who don’t necessarily require on-site care. It is also seen as a cost-effective way to treat those with alcohol and drug dependency issues. The Care NZ Recovery Clinic is publicly funded, so its services are offered at no charge.

The Care NZ Recovery Clinic operates by running two programmes concurrently. Programmes comprise 3 hourly counselling sessions, 3 days per week, for eight weeks. Those on the programme receive group and individual counselling. At the end of the eight week period, aftercare counselling is also provided for up to two years.

Eight staff, comprising counsellors, including Maori and Pacific Island counsellors, and a clinical psychologist are employed at the Christchurch Clinic. All staff have tertiary qualifications and related training in drug, alcohol, and mental health counselling and care.

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Care NZ, which is a not for profit organisation, has an incomparable level of experience in the wider addiction sector, including the fields of drug abuse and alcoholism counselling, treatment and education for individuals, groups, families and the workforce.

The Care NZ Recovery Clinic in Christchurch is one of ten outpatient facilities operated by Care NZ in Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Kapiti, Tokoroa, Matamata, Hamilton, Putaruru and Auckland. Care NZ also run, through a fully owned subsidiary company, a private residential treatment facility in Lyttleton, Harbour House. Harbour House is the only dedicated private residential addiction treatment facility in the South Island.

Care NZ, in partnership with the Department of Corrections has also established successful drug treatment programmes in Arohata Women’s Prison, Waikeria Men’s Prison, Christchurch Men’s Prison, Rimutaka Prison, Spring Hill Corrections Facility and Hawkes Bay Prison. The size and reach of Care NZ’s prison programme has doubled in the past two years, underlining both its success and the need for such services in New Zealand’s correctional facilities.

Care NZ’s Chief Executive Tim Harding says, “Each year, over 2,500 new clients see Care NZ’s drug and alcohol counsellors and specialists throughout the country. The depth of our experience means we understand how health, happiness and productivity can be deeply affected by alcohol and drug abuse. We look forward to being able to help even more Recovery Clinic patients achieve their recovery goals.”

ENDS

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