Levels of Care
Levels of care refers to the intensity and duration of services being provided by a program to clients, including inpatient, residential, therapeutic, partial hospitalization or day treatment, intensive outpatient, outpatient, aftercare and follow up, and monitoring services.
LGBT substance abusers should be assessed to determine the range of services and levels of care they require. The type of drug and the amount used by a client, the danger of a medically complicated withdrawal, the difficulty with withdrawal and craving, and the need to be away from social and psychological stressors will help a counselor determine the level of care a client needs. Whatever the planned treatment, it should be LGBT sensitive and supportive.
Although they abuse alcohol and some of the same substances as non-LGBT substance abusers, certain LGBT individuals may abuse other drugs that influence the level and duration of care they need. For example, methamphetamine abuse is nearly epidemic in gay men in some parts of the United States (Freese et al., 2000). Abuse of this drug often results in strong cravings and frequent relapses and may require extensive and highly focused treatment.
Outpatient care will serve the vast majority of LGBT substance abusers, just as it does non- GBT substance abusers. Many larger urban communities have residential programs for LGBT people as well as LGBT-supportive inpatient or outpatient recovery programs.
Continuum of Care
The continuum of care refers to continuing available services and may include provision of additional services while individuals are in the program; ongoing support and services after discharge (regardless of treatment completion); followup and monitoring activities; and outreach, recruitment, and retention. Some of these services may be different for LGBT clients due to factors such as the health status of the clients or their partners, their living arrangements, the type and stability of their employment, their work hours, and their level of openness about their sexual orientation / sexuality, and their experience with previous service providers or systems.