| Author: | Antonio, Carl Abelardo Trinidad |
| Title: | In search of an inter-sectoral collaborative model for drug rehabilitation in the Philippines : a case comparison study |
| Advisors: | Li, C. M. Jessica (APSS) Siu, Y. M. Judy (APSS) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2025 |
| Subject: | Drug addicts -- Rehabilitation -- Philippines Drug abuse -- Treatment -- Philippines Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Pages: | 248 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Significance, knowledge gaps, and aims of this research: Drug dependence is a major public health and social concern in the Philippines, where approximately 2% of the population are estimated to be current drug users. A national policy was instituted that aims to control drug supply while at the same time providing services to reintegrate people who use drugs (PWUD) into society, the latter through provision of treatment and rehabilitation services. Collaboration is a key strategy to enable organizations involved in drug rehabilitation to address the complex medical, mental, social, and legal problems confronting PWUD. One important challenge in, however, is the fragmentation of service provision across different agencies, resulting in a weak continuum of care. The aim of this research is to describe and review the current process and framework of interagency collaboration in drug rehabilitation in the Philippines using a multiple case study design to propose a feasible model of collaboration. Methods: This is a qualitative research design with multiple sources across three studies. Study One utilizing a scoping review approach (54 papers from 5,632 unique records) to synthesize and categorize the key components (i.e. the nature, goal, structure and composition, activities, and outcomes) of inter sectoral collaboration for drug rehabilitation. Study Two conducted focus group discussions (seven focus groups with 27 participants) with drug rehabilitation personnel coming from social work, law enforcement and rehabilitation settings. It uncovered the attitude of different sectors towards collaboration, the actual practice of collaboration, and some facilitators and barriers to collaboration, including the impact of COVID-19 on interagency collaboration. Study Three conducted semi-structured individual interviews (28 informants) with staff members working in drug treatment and rehabilitation centres, court personnel, law enforcement agent, and former drug users for capturing direct experience and perception of intersectoral collaboration. Key findings, innovation, and originality: Using thematic analysis, four themes emerged in the focus group study, namely "partnership" (theme 1), "participation" (theme 2), "push and pull" (theme 3), and "pandemic" (theme 4) that represented the agencies' perception about inter sectoral collaboration for drug rehabilitation. Individual interviews generated more in-depth and subjective understanding of the study topic, and five themes emerged, including: perspective (theme 1), purpose (theme 2), properties (theme 3), push and pull (theme 4), politics and pandemic (theme 5). Connecting the themes and research objectives, three key findings were identified. First, partnerships were formed for three reasons: resource scarcity (i.e., an agency cannot provide a service needed by PWUD, but another organization is able to do so), legitimacy (i.e., public recognition for localities that are able rehabilitate identified PWUDs), and compliance to government/executive mandate. Second, in terms of professional perspective, law enforcement and legal fields tended to ascribe to prohibition, whereas those from health, social work, and education services favored rehabilitation. Last, there was variation in terms of participating agencies' collaborative arrangement structure. Implications and conclusion: In summary, this is one of the first qualitative study exploring and narrating the intersectoral collaboration for drug rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic period in Philippines. This research addresses a research gap in the topic of collaboration in drug rehabilitation, which is predominantly North American in orientation and derived from short-term project demonstration grants, by offering a real-world perspective on collaboration from the Philippine context. This study will also serve as input to the development of guidelines in the operationalization of collaboration in the local setting as well as in other jurisdictions with similar conditions. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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