Adaptation of the Universal Treatment Curriculum to Philippine Context and Online Environment

BACKGROUND:

The Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC) is offered to the academic community to integrate substance use-specific knowledge, skills, and evidence-based practices into the continuing professional development of current and future service providers. Although widely disseminated in many countries, the adaptation focuses on language translation and in-person trainings.

AIMS:

This study aims to describe the processes and evaluate the results of UTC academic integration as an online course offering in the Philippines.

METHODS:

A concurrent mixed-method approach was used to analyse data gathered through focus group discussion, post-online class evaluation, and pre-test and post-test scores.

PARTICIPANTS:

Fifty-two participants from 22 universities completed the online training.

RESULTS:

Participants appreciated the novelty of online classes and the convenience of Zoom and Google classroom platforms. Game-based learning, resource speakers, and asynchronous sessions facilitated the learning process. Participants noted that the topics selected were informative and useful for their work, but supplemental reading material was excessive. Internet connectivity was the main challenge encountered. Post-test results show a statistically significant increase in knowledge scores and no significant difference in the post-test scores of participants who took face-to-face training and online classes.

CONCLUSIONS:

The UTC Philippine (UTC-P) adaptation was a collaborative process that was revised several times before piloting. Faculty teaching style and confidence with the use of the platform can affect the overall quality of the online course. Online classes seem to have the same effect on similar audiences, with the added advantage of cost-efficiency for a wider audience.