Stakeholder perspectives on collaboration in drug treatment and rehabilitation in the Philippines
1
Department of Health Policy and Administration, College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines
2
Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Collaboration is a key strategy to enable organizations involved in drug rehabilitation to address the complex medical, mental, social, and legal problems confronting people who use drugs. One important challenge in the Philippine context, where drug dependence is considered a major public health and social concern, is the fragmentation of service provision across different agencies, resulting in a weak continuum of care. The aim of this component of a larger research project was to describe the goals and outcomes, benefits and costs, and facilitators and barriers to collaboration in the context of drug treatment and rehabilitation in the Philippines.
METHODS:
We invited 34 individuals from two study sites in the Philippines to participate in key informant interviews. These informants represented different agencies and organizations involved in drug treatment and rehabilitation, as well as former clients of drug rehabilitation services. Interviews took place either through a telephone call or via an online videoconferencing platform. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis following the framework by Braun & Clarke (2006). Data analysis was carried out using NVivo (release 1.6.1; QSR International, 2020).
RESULTS:
A total of 28 participants from diverse sectors including rehabilitation centers, social services, law enforcement, public health departments, judiciary, education, anti-drug abuse council, religious groups, and former clients of drug rehabilitation centers consented to be interviewed for this study. Five themes were identified from the data: (a) philosophical base, (b) purpose of collaboration, (c) properties of collaboration, (d) push and pull factors, and (e) politics and pandemic.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides insights on the agencies involved in the collaboration, the reasons for their partnership, the attributes of the collaborative, and the factors that influence how and why collaboration took place. Results can inform improvements in operationalization of interagency collaboration in the context of drug treatment and rehabilitation.
Collaboration is a key strategy to enable organizations involved in drug rehabilitation to address the complex medical, mental, social, and legal problems confronting people who use drugs. One important challenge in the Philippine context, where drug dependence is considered a major public health and social concern, is the fragmentation of service provision across different agencies, resulting in a weak continuum of care. The aim of this component of a larger research project was to describe the goals and outcomes, benefits and costs, and facilitators and barriers to collaboration in the context of drug treatment and rehabilitation in the Philippines.
METHODS:
We invited 34 individuals from two study sites in the Philippines to participate in key informant interviews. These informants represented different agencies and organizations involved in drug treatment and rehabilitation, as well as former clients of drug rehabilitation services. Interviews took place either through a telephone call or via an online videoconferencing platform. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis following the framework by Braun & Clarke (2006). Data analysis was carried out using NVivo (release 1.6.1; QSR International, 2020).
RESULTS:
A total of 28 participants from diverse sectors including rehabilitation centers, social services, law enforcement, public health departments, judiciary, education, anti-drug abuse council, religious groups, and former clients of drug rehabilitation centers consented to be interviewed for this study. Five themes were identified from the data: (a) philosophical base, (b) purpose of collaboration, (c) properties of collaboration, (d) push and pull factors, and (e) politics and pandemic.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides insights on the agencies involved in the collaboration, the reasons for their partnership, the attributes of the collaborative, and the factors that influence how and why collaboration took place. Results can inform improvements in operationalization of interagency collaboration in the context of drug treatment and rehabilitation.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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