{"id":15372,"date":"2021-07-12T14:06:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T13:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/?p=15372"},"modified":"2021-07-12T14:06:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T13:06:43","slug":"a-tailored-approach-to-future-wellbeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/?p=15372","title":{"rendered":"A tailored approach to future wellbeing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Specialist drug, alcohol and mental health services provider Recovery4Life helps private patients and assists businesses to manage risk while supporting staff, improving productivity and saving money. However, as Steven Hugill finds out, the Gateshead-based firm is also playing a pivotal role in the regional – and international – response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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John Devitt was ahead of the curve when COVID-19 began its surge in late 2019.
A martial arts enthusiast, he watched as members of the region\u2019s Asian community rallied to send face masks to family and friends in China and Hong Kong.
It was something of an epiphany for John, who, having spearheaded Recovery4Life\u2019s programmes on drug and alcohol testing and mental wellbeing in the workplace, realised the company could pivot its services to help combat the pandemic. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we went into the first lockdown in March last year, we really began looking at how we could help manage the situation,\u201d he says.
\u201cWhen we are dealing with drug and alcohol dependency issues, we are dealing with chaotic lives and behaviour.
\u201cOur model is based on putting structure into that chaos, so we had ready-made processes to understand how we could do that with COVID-19.\u201d
One of the ways the Gateshead-based firm has added to the UK\u2019s coronavirus response has been through using its expertise with drug and alcohol testing to take on rapid antigen and antibody testing, and further laboratory-based analysis around COVID-19.
Providing results, in some cases in as little as 15 minutes \u2013 from samples taken at its clinics or from clients\u2019 workplaces \u2013 the company is, says John, playing a crucial role.
\u201cWe got into testing because of the psychological effect and impact COVID-19 has had on mental health,\u201d says chief executive John.
\u201cWith a lot of our clients, the first thing they did wasn\u2019t to worry about transmission, it was fear of the virus itself.
\u201cSo we started looking at our internal models and took in what the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) was saying and what the World Health Organisation was saying, and then looked at why countries like South Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand had done so well to control COVID-19.
\u201cWe also looked at testing behaviours and how the NHS was working to identify clues for patients that needed the most care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe saw there was a need to test to limit transmission, and how that needed to be done with a fast response.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo we invested in tests, which we believe to be the best in the market and processes that were different to anything else out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such is the strength of Recovery4Life\u2019s analysis methods that they have attracted the attention of businesses across the North East, as well as clients overseas, with the Multinational Force and Observers organisation \u2013 which oversees peace between Egypt and Israel \u2013 one of the earliest adopters of the firm\u2019s antibody testing.
Furthermore, the business is now working with Teesside International Airport to deliver antigen, antibody and laboratory-based testing across staff and flyers, which John says will ramp up across the early months of 2021, along with a full occupational health service. \u201cWe are testing travellers who are going to places like the Canary Islands and need a range of approaches to meet different entry requirements \u2013 quickly.
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\u201cOur partnership will create a real hub for Teesside, supporting the local community, the business community and individuals who need or might want private testing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But that isn\u2019t the total of Recovery4Life\u2019s work on COVID-19.
In addition to its raft of testing services, the business is running the Passport2Work web-based app and previously founded the 20\/20 Fund to pay for COVID-19 testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) for key workers.
Designed to help businesses pro-actively manage coronavirus risks, the free-to-use Passport2Work tool considers 14 symptoms, along with any underlying health conditions, to identify pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers more easily.
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to identify the life cycle of the virus and Passport2Work operates like a dashboard for people to track their symptoms,\u201d says John.
\u201cBut it doesn\u2019t just look at one person; the app tracks them, as well as the people they live with, those with underlying health conditions and if the person lives with someone \u2013 like a doctor or nurse, for example \u2013 who are regularly working in environments where COVID-19 is prevalent.
\u201cFollowing Government guidance and international best practice, Passport2Work helps make testing, occupational health and other support more focused, and provides businesses with crucial continuity, in terms of keeping staff safely in work or helping them get back to work.\u201d
John continues: \u201cWhen COVID-19 hit our shores, the price of PPE rocketed, so we decided to use profits from the sale of our tests to help buy equipment.
\u201cOne of the first things we did was donate 1000 bottles of hand gel to local care groups, and we actually had people in tears on the doorstep because of what the sanitiser meant for them in terms of being able to do their jobs without potentially putting patients in danger.
\u201cWe also bought PPE that was whisked away to care homes and community groups, donated to food banks and supported organisations like Age UK.
\u201cWe spent about \u00a312,000 in the first six months of the pandemic. \u201cThe fund is still going, and we\u2019ll keep topping it up going forward.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While continuing to invest such support in the battle against COVID-19, John says Recovery4Life will also remain committed to its core services of drug and alcohol testing for business, mental health support and associated workplace training.
Companies\u2019 understanding and willingness to safeguard employees\u2019 wellbeing is thankfully, says John, becoming much more established, with many shedding outdated conceptions about their responsibilities starting and ending with the traditional working day.
However, in a region where John says alcohol related hospital admissions are the highest in the UK, and where the death rate linked to drugs is one of the largest in the country, he believes much work remains to be done.
And, he says, that focus has been brought into even sharper focus by the effects of COVID-19, with its associated lockdowns and social restrictions pushing people towards different vices to compensate for their reduced social activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are social animals,\u201d says John, \u201cand the isolation that we have all had to get used to is going to create a mental health crisis in the future.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are looking for comfort \u2013 whether that is from sugar in a cake, or from taking cocaine, drinking or gambling.
\u201cIf the mind is in pain, the body is in pain.
\u201cThe situation we find ourselves in is very worrying with COVID-19 and its associated job losses and furlough, and the uncertainty of Brexit too.
\u201cThere is a huge expectation on people to somehow muddle through.\u201d
A key element in this response is Recovery4Life\u2019s tailored wellbeing services.
\u201cWe do drug and alcohol analysis in a different way,\u201d says John, whose team has delivered more than 500,000 tests over the last 20 years, supporting thousands of people across the UK.
\u201cWe\u2019re not here to judge people and believe that you can balance workplace safety with supporting the health and wellbeing of your people \u2013 and offer a full range of treatments including heroin and alcohol home detoxes for those who need help.
\u201cWe are coming from a very strong clinical background with our medical director Dr Martin Weatherhead, for example, an opiate addiction specialist. We speak to people within 24 hours of a referral and get them into appointments within 48 hours. Our services are not a bolt-on for organisations, they are fundamental to their operations, and by acting so quickly we can nip problems in the bud.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Specialist drug, alcohol and mental health services provider Recovery4Life helps private patients and assists businesses to manage risk while supporting staff, improving productivity and saving money. However, as Steven Hugill finds out, the Gateshead-based firm is also playing a pivotal role in the regional – and international – response to the COVID-19 pandemic. John Devitt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.recovery4life.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}