Hazelden partners with Inflexxion to develop new program for adolescents in substance abuse treatment

Hazelden, a nonprofit alcohol and drug addiction treatment provider, has partnered with Inflexxion, the creator of the online behavioral health assessment program Comprehensive Health Assessment for Teens (CHAT) to develop an online resource for adolescents receiving treatment for substance abuse.

With funding from a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) grant, "Staying Off Substances: A Tailored Early Recovery Program for Teens," Hazelden and Inflexxion are creating this new intervention program for adolescents in substance abuse treatment that will reinforce the skills and philosophies they learn in treatment through online interactive exercises, writing activities, and access to a supportive, online community. The program will be available to adolescents during and after treatment to help them navigate challenges during early recovery.

"Youth today are adopting technology at a record rate. In partnering with Inflexxion to develop this innovative online program, we intend to meet adolescents struggling with addiction where they are, engaging them in effective recovery support through interactive tools and social networking," says Nick Motu, publisher and vice president of Marketing and Communications at Hazelden.

"Adolescents in substance abuse treatment have a 75% chance of relapsing within one year of receiving treatment," says Emil Chiauzzi, vice president of Research and Innovation at Inflexxion. "We're proud to be working with Hazelden and hope the program has a significant impact on getting adolescents through the challenges of recovery and on the path to a healthy, abuse-free life. Inflexxion's history of developing technology based programs for substance abuse treatment combined with Hazelden's expertise on addiction and recovery issues gives us the ability to share our knowledge and resources to develop a powerful recovery tool."

The new program will also include an administrative portal for counselors to facilitate their clients' use of the program. Counselors will be able to assign skill-building activities for clients from a list of recommended activities automatically generated by the program and will be able to view individual client's use of the program and generate reports that summarize client use of program features.