“When she's there, I no longer worry about her being arrested”—Family perspectives on compulsory drug rehabilitation in Vietnam and implications for community-based services

Introduction

Compulsory drug rehabilitation continues to be a major governmental response to illicit drug use in East and Southeast Asia despite repeated calls for its discontinuation. Extensive evidence from individuals with substance use disorders and advocacy groups highlights the adverse health, social and economic outcomes associated with compulsory drug rehabilitation. However, the perspective of families on this issue remains relatively unexplored.

Method

Between April 2020 and August 2022, we conducted in-depth interviews in three major cities in Vietnam with 20 family members of people who recently returned from or were about to leave compulsory drug rehabilitation centers. Interviews explored how compulsory rehabilitation met the needs of families, how effective families perceived compulsory rehabilitation was and what families’ needs or concerns that remained unmet.

Results

Compulsory drug rehabilitation centers, despite their recognized limitations, were perceived as the last resort for family members after multiple failed attempts to protect their loved ones from the consequences of drug use and to relieve themselves from constant drug-related stress. Family members considered the effectiveness of compulsory rehabilitation to be the short-term improvements in the health and mood that their loved ones exhibited while in the centers. However, families predominantly worried about the risk of relapse after release and employed three main strategies consisting of conditional support, employment and close monitoring to prevent it. The support available to families to support recovery at post-release was severely limited.

Conclusion

The study underscores the urgent need to alleviate the burden of drug use on families affected by substance use disorders. It is imperative to develop community-based and evidence-based rehabilitation options for PWUD and supportive services for their families.