RTC Modifies Its Behavior

[Deborah]

Intermountain RTC Unit Goes Seclusion & Restraint Free

Contact:
Chuck Christiansen
Director, Business Development
208-375-5910 x162
Fax: 208-377-4749
Website

In November of 2005, one of Intermountain Hospital's RTC units became seclusion and restraint free with the development and implementation of a new policy for the program. According to Intermountain's RTC Clinical Supervisor Mildy McDaniel, LCPC, NCC, the new policy represents a cultural and behavioral shift from the old methods of managing escalating patients. Using a new Model of Engagement and extensive training, staff are now able to forecast the confidence and ability to deescalate patients without coercion, control and power. Intermountain's second RTC unit is planned to go seclusion and restraint free in early 2006.

Intermountain has also introduced a Co-Occurring Disorders Program in the RTC. This program is adopted from a Matrix Model of treatment for those patients diagnosed with alcohol and drug abuse. The program includes five hours per week of Matrix Model programming. Patients engage in and learn about addiction and relapse prevention, family and group therapy, drug education and self-help. It is a 16-week open program. For more information, contact Intermountain at (800) 321-5984.

[Deborah]

Yeh, you can bet they never uttered the words "coercion, control, or power" in association with restraint, prior to giving it up-if they in fact do. Best case, they will, and their peers will feel some pressure to do the same.
I know some industry folks are scratching their heads, goin'....huh, whadda we do if we can't restrain them?

[OverLordd]

Good to hear.

[Anonymous]

I've been at a WWASP gulag, other types of RTC's and also psych hospitals and they all had different policies regarding restraint and isolation.

The psych hospital had to do the most, because there were so many REALLY crazy people there. But they were really pros at it, and did chemical restraints instead of using brute force. (not saying this is good or bad) They'd give a shot of thorazine of you were unwilling to take it yourself, and then time to calm down in the isolation room. But the isolation room was clean, monitored with a video camera 24/7, had a window, was right next to staff, you got the normal meals, you got to stay clean. Although it sucked, you never lost your dignity as with WWASP. They only kept kids in the isolation room for 30 mins... an hour or a couple hours at most. Never 72 hours, weeks or months as with WWASP. They had oversight and had to fill out paperwork.. it was all regulated by the state and you could always call the patient adavocate people at anytime.

The RTC program I was at wouldn't even do restraints. If a kid was that messed up that he would freak out, he was sent to inpatient. (this place had no fence or anything, you could easily walk at anytime)

WWASP on the other hand uses just brute physical force, and the isolation is then used as a punishment rather than a place to de-escalate like in the psych hopsital. Jay Kay hash said this himself. Make the conditions SO horrible, they will do anything to comply with the program ideology and go along with it willingly. It's a cult, nothing more - nothing less. It's not help, it's coercion.

I've seen the entire spectrum of 'facilities' and I can honestly say WWASP is emotionally and physically abusive, and is a downright JOKE compared to the better treatment options available. The parents are operating on a false premise that isolation behavior mod somehow works. It doesn't.