STEP EIGHT:
BEGIN ACCEPTING ONLY CLIENTS WHO ARE WILLING TO TRY TO QUIT
Last year was when we were finally able to make the decision that being willing to quit was to be a pre-requisite for acceptance into the Manor.
By this time, through all of the tobacco-related training and programming we’d been fortunate enough to access thanks to LHIN funding or through free programs, there was a universal acceptance amongst our staff that treating tobacco concurrent to the other addictions was a good thing.
When talking to prospective clients or their referral agents, we’d indicate that if they wanted to come to the Manor for recovery, they had to be willing to try to quit. If they were not willing, we tried to help them by referring them to other organizations who did not view tobacco in the same way.
We know this is one of the greatest fears regarding tobacco treatment in the addictions industry: the fear that intake will drop off completely as no one wants to give up smoking.
Our own experience has been to the contrary, however. Our men want to be well. They want to be healthy. They recognize that tobacco is not good for them and further recognize that there is a very good chance that if they don’t stop smoking they will die because of it.
Our intake never suffered, and we are starting to get to the point where we will have to have a waiting list because people know that when they come to Mackay Manor they have a good chance of leaving in full recovery and with the best chances of a health and wellness for the rest of their lives.
By this time, through all of the tobacco-related training and programming we’d been fortunate enough to access thanks to LHIN funding or through free programs, there was a universal acceptance amongst our staff that treating tobacco concurrent to the other addictions was a good thing.
When talking to prospective clients or their referral agents, we’d indicate that if they wanted to come to the Manor for recovery, they had to be willing to try to quit. If they were not willing, we tried to help them by referring them to other organizations who did not view tobacco in the same way.
We know this is one of the greatest fears regarding tobacco treatment in the addictions industry: the fear that intake will drop off completely as no one wants to give up smoking.
Our own experience has been to the contrary, however. Our men want to be well. They want to be healthy. They recognize that tobacco is not good for them and further recognize that there is a very good chance that if they don’t stop smoking they will die because of it.
Our intake never suffered, and we are starting to get to the point where we will have to have a waiting list because people know that when they come to Mackay Manor they have a good chance of leaving in full recovery and with the best chances of a health and wellness for the rest of their lives.