Background Despite increasing substance use globally, substance use treatment utilisation remains low. This study sought to explore and measure substance use treatment barriers among young adults in South Africa. Methods The study was done in collaboration with the Community-Oriented Substance Use Programme run in Tshwane, South Africa. A mixed methods approach employing focus group discussions with key informants (n = 15), a survey with a random sample of people using substances and receiving treatment (n = 206), and individual semi-structured interviews (n = 15) was used. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse data. Results Contextual barriers seemed more prominent than attitudinal barriers in the South African context. Fragmented services, stigma-related factors, an information gap and lack of resources and support (contextual factors), perceived lack of treatment efficacy, privacy concerns, and denial and unreadiness to give up (attitudinal factors) were treatment barriers that emerged as themes in both quantitative and qualitative data. Culture and religion/spirituality emerged as an important barrier/facilitator theme in the qualitative data. Conclusion Interventions need to embrace contextual factors such as culture, and more resources should be channelled towards substance use treatment. Multi-level stakeholder engagement is needed to minimise stigmatising behaviours from the community and to raise awareness of available treatment services. There is a need for strategies to integrate cultural factors, such as religion/spirituality and traditional healing, into treatment processes so that they complementarily work together with pharmacological treatments to improve health outcomes.
Background: Despite increasing substance use globally, substance use treatment utilisation remains low. This study sought to explore and measure substance use treatment barriers among young adults in South Africa. Methods: The study was done in collaboration with the Community-Oriented Substance Use Programme run in Tshwane, South Africa. A mixed methods approach employing focus group discussions with key informants (n = 15), a survey with a random sample of substance users receiving treatment (n = 206), and individual semi-structured interviews (n = 15) was used. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse data. Results: Contextual barriers seemed more prominent than attitudinal barriers in the South African context. Fragmented services, stigma-related factors, an information gap and lack of resources and support (contextual factors), perceived lack of treatment efficacy, privacy concerns, and denial and unreadiness to give up (attitudinal factors) were treatment barriers that emerged as themes in both quantitative and qualitative data. Culture and religion/spirituality emerged as an important barrier/facilitator theme in the qualitative data.Conclusion: Interventions need to embrace contextual factors such as culture, and more resources should be channelled towards substance use treatment. Multi-level stakeholder engagement is needed to minimise stigmatising behaviours and to raise awareness of available treatment services. There is a need for strategies to integrate cultural factors, such as religion/spirituality and traditional healing, into treatment processes so that they complementarily work together with pharmacological treatments to improve health outcomes.
South Africa alongside other low‐middle‐income countries have been some of the hardest hit by the substance use scourge. The study sought to identify and measure treatment barriers among young adults (18–29 years) living with substance use disorders, and then examine the role of gender in the perception of treatment barriers, with a view to establish gender‐based treatment specialty facilities as a strategy to promote treatment seeking among young South African women. Quantitative method was used for this study, employing simple random sampling. Exploratory factor analysis and independent samples t‐tests were used as statistical measures. The identified treatment barriers were found to have a larger effect on females than males. Women were considered less likely to utilise treatment services compared to males. Health promotion practitioners and policymakers can alleviate the situation by establishing gender‐based treatment facilities. that respond better to women's needs.
Introduction: Globally, harmful substance use, coupled with low utilisation of treatment services, is a public health concern. This study sought to explore and measure the various factors responsible for the low utilisation of treatment services among youths using crystal meth in Harare, Zimbabwe. Also, the role of biographic and socio-demographic variables in the utilisation of treatment services was scrutinised. Methods: Participants were randomly sampled from various urban residential settlements across Harare, living with meth use-related problems and participating in the Mubatirapamwe treatment program. Youths aged between 18-30 years participated in a survey, using the pen and questionnaire self-report method. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: Factors such as stigma and privacy issues, lack of perceived need for change, lack of readiness to change, and financial constraints emerged as some of the most significant deterrents to utilisation of treatment services. The role of biographic and socio-demographic variables such as gender, race, and employment status were examined in the context of utilisation of treatment services. Conclusions: Mobilisation of resources to drive substance use programs, heighten awareness on substance use related matters, and the integration of substance use treatment programs with primary healthcare are key strategies to bridging the treatment gap. Further research is recommended to explore the role of biographic and socio-demographic variables in the utilisation of treatment services. Recommendations were made for accelerated and expanded research in order to inform practice, by developing context-specific interventions.
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