TY - JOUR
T1 - Guidelines for responsible short-term global health activities
T2 - Developing common principles
AU - Lasker, Judith N.
AU - Aldrink, Myron
AU - Balasubramaniam, Ramaswami
AU - Caldron, Paul
AU - Compton, Bruce
AU - Evert, Jessica
AU - Loh, Lawrence C.
AU - Prasad, Shailendra
AU - Siegel, Shira
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/2/7
Y1 - 2018/2/7
N2 - Background: Growing concerns about the value and effectiveness of short-term volunteer trips intending to improve health in underserved Global South communities has driven the development of guidelines by multiple organizations and individuals. These are intended to mitigate potential harms and maximize benefits associated with such efforts. Method: This paper analyzes 27 guidelines derived from a scoping review of the literature available in early 2017, describing their authorship, intended audiences, the aspects of short term medical missions (STMMs) they address, and their attention to guideline implementation. It further considers how these guidelines relate to the desires of host communities, as seen in studies of host country staff who work with volunteers. Results: Existing guidelines are almost entirely written by and addressed to educators and practitioners in the Global North. There is broad consensus on key principles for responsible, effective, and ethical programs--need for host partners, proper preparation and supervision of visitors, needs assessment and evaluation, sustainability, and adherence to pertinent legal and ethical standards. Host country staff studies suggest agreement with the main elements of this guideline consensus, but they add the importance of mutual learning and respect for hosts. Conclusions: Guidelines must be informed by research and policy directives from host countries that is now mostly absent. Also, a comprehensive strategy to support adherence to best practice guidelines is needed, given limited regulation and enforcement capacity in host country contexts and strong incentives for involved stakeholders to undertake or host STMMs that do not respect key principles.
AB - Background: Growing concerns about the value and effectiveness of short-term volunteer trips intending to improve health in underserved Global South communities has driven the development of guidelines by multiple organizations and individuals. These are intended to mitigate potential harms and maximize benefits associated with such efforts. Method: This paper analyzes 27 guidelines derived from a scoping review of the literature available in early 2017, describing their authorship, intended audiences, the aspects of short term medical missions (STMMs) they address, and their attention to guideline implementation. It further considers how these guidelines relate to the desires of host communities, as seen in studies of host country staff who work with volunteers. Results: Existing guidelines are almost entirely written by and addressed to educators and practitioners in the Global North. There is broad consensus on key principles for responsible, effective, and ethical programs--need for host partners, proper preparation and supervision of visitors, needs assessment and evaluation, sustainability, and adherence to pertinent legal and ethical standards. Host country staff studies suggest agreement with the main elements of this guideline consensus, but they add the importance of mutual learning and respect for hosts. Conclusions: Guidelines must be informed by research and policy directives from host countries that is now mostly absent. Also, a comprehensive strategy to support adherence to best practice guidelines is needed, given limited regulation and enforcement capacity in host country contexts and strong incentives for involved stakeholders to undertake or host STMMs that do not respect key principles.
KW - Best practices
KW - Global health education
KW - Guidelines
KW - Short-term medical missions
KW - Standards
KW - Volunteers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040966724&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85040966724&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12992-018-0330-4
DO - 10.1186/s12992-018-0330-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 29415740
AN - SCOPUS:85040966724
SN - 1744-8603
VL - 14
JO - Globalization and Health
JF - Globalization and Health
IS - 1
M1 - 18
ER -