Caron Foundation offers an Older Adult plan to guide addicted seniors safely to recovery, regardless of co-occurring conditions.
Caron Foundation is a not-for-profit leader in the fields of addiction and behavioral healthcare treatment, with a 60-year track record. It can tailor its programs to focus on age (teens, young adults, adults and older adults), professions (executives, healthcare, legal and airline), as well as offer LGBTQ-supportive care.
Caron offers inpatient, outpatient and recovery center services in several states. Its main facilities are in Wernersville, PA, and Palm Beach County, FL. It has recovery centers in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, New York, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.
While not the company with the largest number of locations, it is unique in its focus on customizing treatment care plans to the needs of the individual and family. Its highly trained teams are willing to look at dual disorders and conditions, cross-addictions, co-occurring conditions and other potential barriers to recovery. Its ‘older adults’ program is an example of how specific its treatment can be.
Ease of enrollment Ways you can enroll | Online chat, online application and phone for each facility; all 24/7 |
Customer support Is access easy? | Phone 24/7 |
Treatment method 12-step, medication and/or psychosocial therapy? | 12-step, with medication and psychosocial therapy as needed |
Types of facility/program Facilities/programs offered? | Detox facilities, residential rehab programs, intensive and standard outpatient programs |
States covered Where located? | PA, FL, GA, NY, MA and Wash, DC |
Number of facilities How large is the chain? | 8-10 total across all types |
Certifications Who certifies them? | CARF, NAATP, FARR and LegitScript |
Payment What are payment options? | Insurance, certified checks, cash, credit cards, wire transfers, scholarships and zero/low-interest financing |
Detox Detox service available? | Yes |
Seniors Special senior programs? | Yes, in some facilities |
Cost What is the cost of the service? | Depends on level of care needed and location |
Caron offers rehab for seniors that meet the medical, physical and cognitive demands that are specific to that age group. It also factors in a senior’s wish for dignity and privacy, and the cultural history of this particular population. Because signs of substance abuse can be confused with those of aging, they can be overlooked. Yet the health consequences of addiction are more severe than for younger people, ranging from a greater chance of falling to harmful interactions with any of the medications the person has been prescribed.
Caron assigns a multidisciplinary treatment team to seniors, including licensed psychologists and psychiatrists, addiction counselors, medical doctors, nutritionists, physical therapists, and spiritual leaders. They are all experienced and fully licensed. Co-occurring diseases or disorders must be considered as each treatment plan is developed. “Recovery is possible at any age,” the Caron website states.
As we age, we are likely to be dealing with more and more chronic pain, ongoing conditions such as diabetes, or cardiac problems. The Caron team must, therefore, be particularly astute during pre-admission screening, face-to-face evaluations and on-site residential assessments.
Throughout treatment, the senior must be monitored – and the treatment plan updated – as the recovery process progresses. Substance abuse often occurs after a life change, such as the death of a loved one, a retirement, or being diagnosed with a debilitating illness. That makes Caron’s focus on psychological as well as spiritual support increasingly valuable.
Pros:
Cons:
Bottom Line:
Seniors are an obvious priority for Caron, as witnessed by the extensive program it has developed to support them. It understands the importance of age-specific rehabilitation and the propensity for prescription drug addiction in the older population, as well as other substance abuse problems. It also factors in the mindset of today’s older population that grew up influenced by the more liberal drug culture of the 1960s.
Caron has a limited number of facilities but is worth considering because of its focus on the co-occurring disorders and medical challenges a senior might bring to the rehabilitation process. It is also not the least expensive but offers a sliding-fee scale, some scholarships, and access to low- and zero-cost financing where insurance is unavailable or insufficient.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How all-inclusive are the services provided? Caron offers the full continuum of treatment services: detox services (when necessary); individual, group, and family counseling; specialty treatment groups; psychological services; spiritual support; health and wellness; fitness and recreation; diet and nutrition services; and continuing care support and planning. However, Caron is not an acute care facility. Admissions into programs are scheduled, but some facilities can do so relatively quickly and can admit patients to on-site detox units on short notice.
What types of facilities are available? In its different locations, Caron can offer extended care, inpatient detox, intensive outpatient, intervention assistance, online support, primary residential, standard outpatient and 5-day breakthrough.
Is any financing available? Caron tries to work with a sliding-fee scale and has some scholarship funding available. In fact, it leads the industry each year in how much financial assistance it provides through partial scholarships to patients. Of the 3,000+ patients served in the past year, over 1,000 have been helped thanks to the nearly $10 million raised by Caron to support charity care. It also maintains relationships with lenders including Prosper and M-Lend Financial with low- and zero-cost financing.
More Information:
Overview: Caron provides rehabilitation services in different programs that are sensitive to age, profession and lifestyle. Within those offerings is its Older Adult program, which includes all the safeguards required by advancing age, existing medical conditions and mental state. It understands that beliefs may be more hardwired in older patients, but achieves considerable success by enlisting the help of family. It also taps into a senior’s greater tendency to comply with treatment regimens, simply as a result of patient maturity.
Package Details: Each senior and family is assessed individually to design a package that considers the physical, medical, psychological and spiritual requirements to combat addiction to a specific substance. Caron’s full range of facilities can support a senior to recovery and beyond.
Other Services: None.
Contract Details: Caron follows its extensive pre-admissions process with a written individualized treatment plan. Once the commitment is made by the patient to enter a Caron program, upfront payment arrangements are applied.
Warranty: The company will make every effort for its treatment programs to be successful, however, much of the success rests upon the patient.
Accreditations: Caron is accredited by CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) and is a member of the NAATP (National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers) and FARR (Florida Association of Recovery Residences). Its website is LegitScript-certified. It holds all required national- and state-level accreditations and licensures for its various addiction treatment programs and services. There is no Better Business Bureau review of Caron, other than listing Caron Foundation as a charity involved in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
Company Details: Caron was founded in 1957 by Richard J. Caron, a recovering alcoholic, and his wife Catherine when they opened their home to others in need of guidance and support in recovery. They purchased a historic resort in 1959 and inaugurated the first internationally recognized chemical-dependence treatment center in the U.S. Caron pioneered addiction treatment in many ways: one of the first to admit and treat female alcoholics and to add psychological treatment to the traditional 12-step approach. Its mission continues to be to transform lives that are impacted by substance use and addiction through personalized, comprehensive and proven treatment.
Phone: 484-345-2859
Website: https://www.caron.org
7 min read
Sept. 20, 2019
