Families often play an integral role in client recovery during treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health conditions. Healthcare professionals must navigate the family dynamics affecting client care and safety. Studies have shown that “family dynamics and the quality of family relationships can positively or negatively impact health.” Driftwood Recovery does comprehensive assessments and a full client history to determine if family relationships may complicate treatment and long-term recovery. Staff members use a compassionate approach to address client families and their concerns.
What Is a Safety Risk?
Safety risks are factors that negatively impact the emotional or physical well-being of individuals in treatment. Families play an important role in creating a healthy and nurturing environment for recovery. According to the Research Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (RAHRQ), “As essential members of the care team, families play a critical role in reducing harm and improving safety for patients.” However, in some cases, unhealthy family dynamics may pose a danger to individuals in treatment.
Examples of client safety risks healthcare providers may encounter include:
- Self-harming or self-destructive behaviors
- Adverse reactions to treatment or prescription medications
- Clients not understanding their treatment or making informed decisions about their care
- Family members removing clients from care against medical advice
Client safety is a top priority for the experts at Driftwood Recovery. Staff members regularly check in with clients and practice transparency to ensure clients feel comfortable disclosing any concerns. Clinicians and support staff understand the importance of remaining vigilant to signs of unsafe individuals interacting with clients. Communication or visitation rights may be revoked for individuals who pose a safety hazard to clients or staff.
Assessing Client Families and Relationship Dynamics
Healthcare professionals must assess clients to determine what underlying factors may impact their mental health and physical safety. Family relationships significantly affect how people see the world and think about their condition. Unhealthy family dynamics may cause some clients to feel ambivalent about treatment. Toxic relationships may also cause physical safety issues if they lead to domestic or family abuse.
Some of the ways healthcare professionals assess clients and their relationships with family members include:
- Gathering a family history
- Direct observation of family interactions and behavioral cues
- Structured interviews with clients and families
- Identifying roles within the family to determine relationship dynamics
- Assessing boundaries within the family
- Gaining cultural and socioeconomic context for clients and their families
- Identifying client resources and support networks
Healthcare professionals use these methods to better understand the relationships between clients and their family members. A comprehensive review of family dynamics allows staff members to create tailored care plans and address unique challenges clients face during treatment and ongoing recovery.
How Can Client Families Become a Safety Risk?
Families may pose a physical or emotional safety risk to clients by interfering with treatment or putting clients in danger. Healthcare professionals are mandatory reporters and must act if they notice any abuse affecting clients under their care.
Families may become a safety risk if they do the following:
- Enable substance abuse or other unhealthy behaviors
- Cause clients to be overly dependent on them for emotional or practical support
- Act abusive or aggressive toward the client
- Purposefully expose clients to triggers
- Dismiss the client’s need for treatment due to ignorance or stigma
- Violate client boundaries
- Emotionally manipulate the client
- Involve the client in illegal activities
- Fail to acknowledge or address toxic behavior
Clients may have difficulty recognizing unhealthy relationship dynamics. Staff may need to help clients work through understanding how remaining in unhealthy relationships could reduce the effectiveness of treatment, increase the risk of relapse, and cause them to experience complications in recovery.
Navigating Communication With Client Families During Treatment
Healthcare professionals should remain objective, calm, and focused on conflict resolution while communicating with families. Honesty and transparency also reduce the risk of causing further complications. Ultimately, clients control what information their care team can share with family members. Navigating conversations with client families should be handled with compassion and professionalism.
Following the HIPAA Privacy Rule
Healthcare professionals must adhere to HIPPA privacy laws while providing support and guidance to clients during treatment. Client information, medical records, and treatment progress cannot be shared with unauthorized family members without the client’s permission.
Toxic or unhealthy family dynamics often cause abusive and controlling family members to try to take control of their loved one’s treatment. Even well-meaning families may struggle to let go of control if clients choose not to include them in their recovery. Staff members must navigate those conversations with empathy and professionalism.
Following HIPAA requirements means clinicians and support staff cannot share the following with family members without client permission:
- Conversations between medical professionals about the client’s health and treatment
- Client contact information, including phone number and home address
- Information about billing and payments
- Client health records, including test results and official diagnosis
- Additional details of the treatment plan
Staff members at Driftwood Recovery protect clients by providing referrals to protective services for individuals struggling with relationship abuse or conflict.
Healthcare professionals may have to navigate situations where clients and their families have unhealthy or dangerous relationships. Domestic violence, abuse, severely co-dependent relationships, and other family dynamics may hurt a client’s mental health and/or substance abuse recovery during treatment. Family members often play a role in treatment and recovery. Rehabilitation and mental health programs provide clients with the resources and tools needed to address unhealthy or unsafe family dynamics. The staff members at Driftwood Recovery receive training on how to recognize and respond appropriately if clients’ families pose any type of safety risk. To learn more about maintaining client safety and addressing family issues, contact our office today at (512) 759-8330.