In Ireland, as elsewhere, public policy in relation to treatment and rehabilitation outcomes for people who become drug dependent has tended to vacillate across the years, but it is noteworthy that at present there is a renewed emphasis on the value of ‘recovery’ or ‘rehabilitation’. We are pleased with this new emphasis which, in its commitment to assisting addicts to become abstinent and to improve the overall quality of their lives is reflective of the traditional Coolmine ethos.

In addition to encouraging and supporting our clients to detoxify and remain drug free, we have in recent years intensified our commitment to assisting them to improve the quality of their family and other interpersonal relationships, as well as to make progress in relation to their housing needs, their educational and training needs and their employment aspirations. We believe that the implementation of our previous strategic plan reflects a continued commitment to this provision of a continuum of care, and to a vision of recovery which strives for an enhanced quality of life rather than mere abstinence from drugs and alcohol.

Some of our priorities for the next three to four years will be as follows:
• Further refinements and adjustments with respect to the length of stay and capacity within our residential programmes which will include the provision of a dedicated stepdown programme and life-long aftercare initiative.
• Greater cooperation and formal service level agreements with other statutory and voluntary providers so that we can enhance the range of services provided to our clients and maximise the move on potential for all.
• Expanding our detoxification capacity to include community based alcohol detoxification and the development and provision of evidence based alcohol awareness and mindfulness based relapse prevention programmes.
• The completion and publication of our longitudinal research outcome study as well as the publication and dissemination of action research project focusing on the implementation and integration of evidence based treatments interventions.
• The scheduling of a number of celebratory events and publications to mark our 40 year anniversary in 2013.