Barriers and facilitators to accessing drug treatment services for people who use drugs in Oman: a qualitative study.
Background: Oman grapples with concerns about drug use amid rapid economic growth and cultural shifts. From 2004 to 2018, 4300 out of 6453 registered substance use cases involved opiate use. This study addresses the limited understanding of access to drug treatment services, considering the perspectives of both service providers and users.
Methods: Utilizing qualitative methods, the study engaged 21 service providers through five focus groups and 15 service users through semi-structured interviews. Theoretical frameworks, including The Conceptualization of Access to Health Care, Attribution Theory on Social Conduct, and Social Identities as Pathways into and out of Addiction, guided the research. Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis extracted data into barriers, facilitators and recommendations.
Results: Barriers identified include denial, stigma (especially towards women), limited services, and accessibility challenges from service providers' perspectives. Service users highlighted personal attributes, stigma, religious and cultural beliefs, insufficient nationwide treatment services (especially for women), and legal consequences. Facilitators encompassed family support, religious motivation, easy appointment setting, and policy emphasis on treatment over legal consequences. Recommendations from both groups emphasized multidisciplinary collaboration, harm reduction policy benchmarking, nationwide service expansion, and increased awareness.
Conclusion: This study unveils nuanced influences on treatment access for people who use drugs in Oman, addressing stigma, religion, culture, and organizational factors. The integrated findings emphasize gender-specific hurdles, the interplay of religious and cultural beliefs on policy making. A comprehensive guide to ease access to drug treatment services in Oman was created based on the findings and recommendations. The culturally tailored guide presented considers equitable support for people who use drugs, integrating religion with evidence-based practices, particularly focusing on the introduction of harm reduction approaches such as opioid maintenance therapy. This contribution extends beyond Oman, engaging in broader discussions on moral and normative dimensions shaping drug policies in similar regions.