Rehabilitation Center: HSA Eligibility

What is a rehabilitation center?

A rehabilitation center is a blanket term for a wide variety of facilities that are designed to help patients return to an optimal state of health as a result of a substance addiction, recent surgery, illness or a major injury. These facilities offer numerous programs to help individuals get back on their feet and return to their normal lives, such as physical, occupational and speech therapy, as well as group therapy sessions that are vital for alcohol or substance abuse treatment (National Rehabilitation Information Center).

What is physical rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation centers that specialize in helping individuals recover from surgery, illness or injuries are those that specialize in physical medicine. There are two primary forms of rehabilitation in these settings: acute and sub-acute rehabilitation, both of which are done in an inpatient setting. Acute rehabilitation is ideal for patients who will benefit most from an intensive, multidisciplinary approach where the patient is expected to make significant functional gains and improve medically through multiple therapy sessions each day, in both 1:1 and group sessions (MedlinePlus).

Sub acute rehabilitation is one step below acute rehabilitation in that the number of hours of therapy a patient receives is much lower. Whereas acute rehabilitation patients may receive a minimum of 3 hours of therapy per day, sub acute rehabilitation facilities only receive about 1-2 hours of therapy per day.

What is substance abuse rehabilitation?

Individuals who are suffering from an alcohol, drug or substance abuse addiction will attend a much different type of rehabilitation center that will focus on forging a path to sobriety and a life free of addiction. These facilities, usually referred to by their shorthand "rehab," differ in that some facilities will specialize in a certain type of drug addiction, while others offer a broader range of addiction services, age- and gender-specific drug treatment programs, and both inpatient and outpatient treatment options.

In some cases, patients will have to undergo detoxification (detox) treatment to clear their body of foreign substances before beginning treatment. Once the body is clear of harmful substances, the patient will be ready to begin rehab and will begin working with doctors and counselors to set attainable goals to make healthier choices and commitments for the future. Through both individual and group counseling, patients can work toward a life free from their addictions and build the strength to avoid relapsing in the future (National Institute on Drug Abuse).