Best practices in LGBT treatment programs: A case study

This study is an intrinsic case study that investigates an LGBT drug and alcohol treatment program. Interviews with health care staff are being conducted to get a better understanding of what makes this program work. Research shows that treatment programs that state they offer an LGBT centered “track” are declining, reasons are unclear. The decline in numbers of these programs paired with what the fact that it is well known that LGBT people are at a much higher risk for drug and alcohol related problems than their heterosexual counterparts, makes this decline alarming. A goal of this paper is to investigate what this program does in comparison to other treatment programs and to understand what changes can be made in all treatment programs to make them more inclusive of the LGBT population. This research path sets out to define some best practices that could be implemented in all treatment facilities to better cater to the LGBT person. It is through in-depth interviews that this paper hopes to make some of those best practice suggestions for other treatment programs that do not offer LGBT centered treatment programs.