Treatment barriers and gender-based perceptions: Establishing gender-based treatment specialty facilities as a strategy to motivate South African young women to seek treatment for substance use disorders.

Abstract

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.