A RESEARCH project is challenging the way addiction recovery is measured.
Delamere, an addiction treatment and behavioural health provider based in Cuddington, has reached a key milestone in its research partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, funded by Innovate UK.
Martin Preston, founder and chief executive of Delamere, said: "This is an important milestone in a project that goes right to the heart of what recovery actually means.
"We talk a lot as a sector about successful treatment, but the way we measure that success has not always kept pace with what recovery actually looks like.
"Completing treatment matters. Abstinence matters. But neither tells you the whole story.
"Recovery can also mean rebuilding relationships, improving health, finding confidence, connection and purpose, and building a life people want to protect."
The study questions the industry's reliance on treatment completion and abstinence as sole indicators of success, aiming instead to understand the broader, long-term outcomes associated with sustained recovery.
The research was co-developed with input from Delamere staff and individuals with lived experience, ensuring that it reflects the outcomes that matter most to those in recovery.
KTP Impact Lead Emma Davidson, who leads the research programme, said: "Recovery is complex.
"Someone can be abstinent, but that alone cannot tell us everything about their health, relationships, wellbeing or the life they are building.
"An important part of this research has been listening to people with lived experience and involving them in shaping what we ask and what we measure."
Early findings suggest that people’s definitions of recovery evolve throughout treatment.
While initial goals often focus on abstinence, over time recovery comes to include wellbeing, connection, hope, and quality of life.
Delamere’s treatment model includes clinical care, therapeutic programmes, and long-term support.
It operates from its purpose-built centre in Cuddington, which opened in 2020 and has supported more than 1,500 guests.
Construction is underway on a second facility in Nottingham, a £30 million, 32-bed site due to open at the end of 2027.
With six months of data collection now complete, the project will move into detailed analysis.
Full findings are expected to be reported in the new year.
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