We challenge Iowans to Sign Up and Stand Up for Recovery. Become part of a network of recovering individuals, families and friends willing to raise awareness about the value of recovery from alcohol and other addictions.


For a complete list of recovery programs and organizations in your area, search the Iowa Facility Locator online, or call The Iowa Substance Abuse Information Center, 1-866-242-4111.

Recovery Iowa

Recovery Iowa seeks to raise public awareness that alcohol, drug, and gambling disorders are a public health issue, seeks to eliminate the stigma associated with addiction and recovery, and seeks to improve awareness about substance use recovery issues.

The Recovery Iowa site features wonderful and motivating quotes borrowed from your recovery stories. Personal stories are powerful, educational, and inspirational for those in recovery, those unfamiliar with the power of recovery, and for those not yet in recovery. Help raise awareness about the value of recovery by telling your story. You can email your story to Recovery Iowa and we'll publish it on this site during Recovery Month.

The Way Home Transitional Housing Program

The Way Home, providing long-term transitional housing for families in recovery from substance abuse, currently has apartments available. Read The Way Home brochure for more information about the program. The Way Home is located in Cedar Rapids, IA, and is a program of ASAC Housing.

Get Ready for September Recovery Month

Recovery Month is just 3 months away! Start planning your Recovery Month event now and reach out to key leaders in your community to get them involved in your event. Ask your state and local officials to issue proclamations recognizing September as Recovery Month. Not sure what kind of event to hold? View other national community events by state or ZIP code and see how others are celebrating Recovery Month. View a sample proclamation and get tips on how to initiate a proclamation.

Tune in to the 2010 Road to Recovery Multimedia Series

The Webcast premiering on August 4 is "Embracing Diversity: Crossing Barriers To Deliver Treatment to Everyone."
Addiction is not limited to any one race, religion, creed, or lifestyle. Fortunately, neither are treatment and recovery services. Achieving long-term recovery is often dependent on finding personalized treatment and recovery services that meet the specific individual’s cultural, religious, or lifestyle needs. This episode will look at how substance use is acceptable in some cultures and how this may create a barrier for individuals seeking treatment and recovery services, consider the importance of providing services that incorporate the specific needs of the individual, and examine how some treatment and recovery models may prove more effective for one group than another.
Watch the trailer for "Embracing Diversity: Crossing Barriers To Deliver Treatment to Everyone"

 

Now It's the LawNew Law Strengthens Coverage for Addiction Treatment

Millions of Americans who need help for addiction to alcohol or other drugs have an important new resource: their own health insurance.

A new federal law expands access to treatment by prohibiting most insurance plans from restricting coverage or imposing unequal limitations on treatment for addiction and mental illness. Plans are now required to match coverage for addiction treatment and mental health treatment to coverage for medical or surgical care - including out of pocket expenses, deductibles, and co-payments.

Download Hazelden's brochure, Coverage for Addition and Mental Illness: Now It is the Law   explaining the impact of the new parity law on coverage for addiction treatment

Recovery Month2010 Recovery Month

The 2010 Recovery Month theme, "Join the Voices for Recovery: now more than ever," highlights the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment, lauds the contributions of treatment providers and promotes the message that recovery from substance abuse in all its forms is possible. The observance also encourages citizens to take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective substance abuse treatment for those in need. Each year a new theme, or emphasis, is selected for the observance.

2010 Recovery Month resources are available on the national Recovery Month Website, and local information is available on the Iowa Recovery Month Webpage, to help you plan your events and observances. Send us your event information, info@RecoveryIowa.org, and we'll be advertise your event on our site.

Visit Recovery Month’s YouTube Channel

National Recovery Month’s public service announcements (PSAs) and other video content are available on a YouTube channel. By becoming a subscriber, you can post your comments on Recovery Month’s video content, receive updates when new videos and PSAs are posted, or read comments by other subscribers. New content is added regularly. Check out Recovery Month’s YouTube channel.

Medication in Recovery

You have a cold, you can't sleep, your back hurts. What medications are safe for those who are recovering from alcohol or other drug addiction? [Learn more]

If you're in recovery, is it OK to take pain medication? Dr. Marv Seppala, Hazelden's chief medical officer, answers eight common questions. [Learn more]

CADCATeens who drink with parents may still develop alcohol problems

Despite the research on the negative effects of alcohol use on young people, many parents still believe that teen drinking is a right of passage. Many take the approach of trying to teach responsible drinking by letting their teenagers have alcohol at home. However, a new study published in the latest issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, shows that this approach is ineffective. [READ MORE at CADCA]

Words Matter - from Faces and Voices of Recovery

New research has confirmed what recovery advocates have been working to change – the language that we use to talk about people with addiction and/or people in recovery and their family members. It makes a difference, even for health care professionals working in addiction treatment. “We found that referring to an individual with ‘abuser’ terminology evokes more punitive attitudes than does describing that person’s situation in exactly the same words except for using ‘disorder’ terminology,” says John F. Kelly, PhD, Associate Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addiction Medicine, who led the study. “Reducing the use of such stigmatizing terms could help diminish the shame, guilt and embarrassment that act as barriers, keeping people from seeking help. The authors noted that even though the World Health Organization acknowledged ‘abuser’ as a stigmatizing term 30 years ago, it remains in common usage. [READ MORE]