Barriers and facilitators to accessing inpatient and community substance use treatment and harm reduction services for people who use drugs in the Muslim communities: A systematic narrative review of studies on the experiences of people who receive services and service providers. (1st March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Al-Ghafri, Qutba; Radcliffe, Polly; Gilchrist, Gail
• Is Part Of: Drug and alcohol dependence. Volume 244(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-03-01
• Subjects: Drug use -- Muslim -- Treatment access; Drug abuse -- Periodicals; Alcoholism -- Periodicals; 616.86
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.109790
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0376-8716

Abstract

Abstract: Background: The prevalence of drug use in Muslim communities is difficult to estimate due to religious, social, and cultural prohibition toward drug use. With Islam affecting all aspects of life in the Muslim world, people who use drugs do it clandestinely to avoid stigma and exclusion from the community, leading to a low number of them seeking treatment for their drug use. This review explored the barriers and facilitators to accessing inpatient and community substance use treatment and harm reduction services for people who use drugs in Muslim communities. Methods: This review was in accordance with PRISMA. Seven databases were systematically searched for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies conducted in countries where at least 70% of the population were Muslim or where data were presented separately for Muslim communities in other countries. Eligible articles were reviewed, and key qualitative themes were abstracted and compared across studies and settings. Results: Twenty-four studies were included from Iran, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Lebanon, and UAE. Two themes were identified: a psychosocial theme included denial of the problem severity, lack of trust in the treatment system, fear of breach in confidentiality and privacy, the need for community support, religion and women who use drugs. Additionally, an organizational theme included affordability, treatment Service characteristics, lack of Awareness, service providers' Attitudes, drug use registration and fear of legal consequences of drug use. Stigma was also identified as an over-arching theme. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the quality of the included studies with where 12 of the studies met all 5 the quality criteria. No studies were excluded for having lower quality scores. Conclusion: This review reflected how diverse the Muslim world is in drug use. It is important to use mosques to raise awareness on people who use drugs and reduce stigma. Providing holistic services for people who use drugs specially women will improve their access to treatment and harm reduction services in the Muslim world. Highlights: The scarcity of research on illicit drug use conducted in the Muslim world, specifically, on barriers and facilitators to access drug treatment and harm reduction services for people who use drugs indicates the need for more research in the region. Stigma on drug use in the Muslim world permeates psychosocial and organizational factors affecting people who use drugs access to drug treatment and harm reduction services. Psychosocial barriers and facilitators of people who use drugs access to drug treatment and harm reduction services include denial of the problem severity, lack of trust in the treatment system, fear of breach in confidentiality and privacy, the need for community support, religion and women who use drugs. Organizational barriers and facilitators of people who use drugs access to drug treatment and harm reduction services include affordability, treatment Service characteristics, lack of Awareness, service providers' Attitudes, drug use registration and fear of legal consequences of drug use. The way people receive treatment is different in different Muslim countries in terms of gender, experience, policy and availability of treatments and harm reduction services.