"The research literature on substance abuse treatment has consistently reported evidence to support the view that the relationships people maintain with their families, friends and other social contacts are critical to understanding why people start to abuse drink and drugs, why they persist to the point of addiction, and how they respond to treatment designed to move them to abstinence.

"Cloud and Granfield delineate four dimensions to recovery capital: social, physical, human and cultural.
"Social capital: The sum of resources that each person has as a result of their relationships, support from and obligations to groups to which they belong
"Physical capital: Tangible assets such as property and money that may increase recovery options
"Human capital: Personal skills and education, positive health, aspirations and hopes

"In this context, “recovery capital“ is the sum of personal and social resources at one’s disposal for addressing drug dependence and, chiefly, bolstering one’s capacity and opportunities for recovery” (Cloud and Granfield, 2001).

"The recognition of drug dependence as a multi-factorial health disorder, which often follows the course of a relapsing and remitting chronic disease, has spurred calls to shift the focus of drug dependence treatment from acute care to an approach of sustained recovery management in the community. Sustained recovery management applies many of the central components of recovery capital and the Sustainable Livelihoods framework. Service wise, a sustained recovery management approach offers the following: