Activity Plan for EMCAT
Activity Report & Plan - 2024
The goal of the Ethical Marketing Campaign for Addiction Treatment (EMCAT) is clear: to combat unethical marketing practices within the addiction treatment sector, safeguard vulnerable individuals, and advocate for transparency and integrity.
Founded in June 2024, the first 6 months of EMCAT’s activity involved designing our campaign plan, gathering a diverse range of supporters, volunteers and advisors, and determining the funds required to sustain our initial operations. We established a partnership with an umbrella organisation to support our early activity, and created a solid governance structure to ensure accountability and transparency. The structure included an executive branch, a strategy group, and an independent advisory committee.
EMCAT worked hard throughout the latter half of 2024 to begin liaising with regulators and patient groups, as well as local government agencies and sector bodies. We also started to engage with rehab providers.
EMCAT published an ethical marketing code for the addiction treatment sector in the UK. Direct support and advice was offered by the industry body for addiction treatment centres in the United States, who offered their advice and support to our campaign - and explained how similar unethical practices had been eliminated in the US.
One of the most important information gathering activities that we undertook was to instigate a sector-wide survey, beginning the process of gathering qualitative and quantitative data about the view and opinions across the industry. Prior to starting this exercise we also conducted a full mapping exercise of the whole sector - accounting for every residential rehabilitation service in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
During the course of June to November, we engaged constructively with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), and with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), also the Local Government Association (LGA) as well as with Addiction Professionals (AP), the Choices Rehabs Group and Collective Voice (CV). We also assisted journalists within the mainstream media.
Activity Plan - 2025
Going forward into 2025, EMCAT will continue to assist the ASA in their valuable work of investigating improper advertising practices in the addiction treatment sector. We will also collaborate with the ICO to address transparency and data protection concerns, issuing guidance on GDPR compliance across the sector. By furthering our engagement with key regulators and stakeholders, we will ensure that ethical marketing becomes the standard across the industry.
A key focus will be working directly with brokers and treatment providers who use brokering services to encourage the adoption of ethical marketing practices. Through public awareness campaigns and targeted advocacy, we will shed light on unethical behaviours, empower individuals to voice their concerns, and provide clear pathways for recourse when misleading practices are encountered. Additionally, we aim to bring the majority of treatment providers together under a unified code of conduct that rejects brokering and aligns with the ethical standards observed in other areas of healthcare.
We will also engage with commercial platforms, such as Google, to push for action against brokering sites or marketing sites disguised as helplines. We aim to establish political support across the major parties, in the UK and in the devolved nations.
Our efforts will include becoming more active on social media, and gathering impactful stories from individuals and families affected by unethical practices, ensuring their voices contribute to meaningful change in the sector.