ArticleGlobal health action2017
Short-term volunteer health trips: aligning host community preferences and organizer practices.
Article in Global health action, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Development of a theoretical framework for assessment of quality of primary care medical service trips in Latin America.International journal of public health · 2019Pooled it
- Host Country Views of Short-Term Medical Missions: Community-Based Research in Ghana, Uganda, and Guatemala.Annals of global health · 2026Article
- Global competency impact of sustained remote international engagement for students.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- Capacity Building During Short-Term Surgical Outreach Trips: A Review of What Guidelines Exist.World journal of surgery · 2023Review
- Impact and Sustainability of Foreign Medical Aid: A Qualitative Study with Honduran Healthcare Providers.Annals of global health · 2023Article
- Guidelines for short-term medical missions: perspectives from host countries.Globalization and health · 2022Article
- Going Remote: Evaluating a Global Health Practicum Program During COVID-19 Travel Restrictions.Annals of global health · 2022Article
- Global Health Partnerships and the Brocher Declaration: Principles for Ethical Short-Term Engagements in Global Health.Annals of global health · 2022Article
- Ghanaian views of short-term medical missions: The pros, the cons, and the possibilities for improvement.Globalization and health · 2021Article
- Improving Short-Term Medical Engagements with Low-to-Middle-Income Countries.NAM perspectives · 2021Review
- Occupational Therapy in Haiti: A Pilot Study to Identify Intervention Methods Used during Short-Term Medical Missions.Occupational therapy international · 2020Article
- A Comprehensive Framework to Optimize Short-Term Experiences in Global Health (STEGH).Globalization and health · 2019Article
- Guidelines for responsible short-term global health activities: developing common principles.Globalization and health · 2018Review
- Client or Volunteer? Understanding Neoliberalism and Neocolonialism Within International Volunteer Health Work.Global qualitative nursing researchArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundShort-term medical missions (STMMs) are quite common and largely understood to be a response to health needs in low-income countries. Yet most information about STMM practices is anecdotal. Even less is known about the preferences of in-country host communities regarding STMMs.
objectiveWe aimed to gather enough quantitative and qualitative information from both STMM organizers and host community staff to compare dominant practices of organizers as well as preferences of host community staff. We use these data to discover differences between practices and preferences and suggest ways in which STMMs can be more responsive to the communities they serve.
methodsResearchers gathered online survey responses from 334 STMM organizers and conducted interviews to determine existing practices. Similar methods were used to collect 49 online survey responses from, and conduct 75 interviews with, host community staff.
resultsOrganizer practices and host community staff preferences are different in several areas. Organizers admit to minimal screening and preparation of volunteers whereas host staff have clear ideas of topics that should be covered in preparation, including culture and basic language skills. Organizers prioritize provision of clinical care during trips whereas host staff prioritize capacity building. Practices and preferences also differ in relation to the length of STMMs, the nature of the partnership itself, and the type of assessment and evaluation that is needed.
conclusionsThe large amount of data gathered for this study allows us to confidently say that organizer practices are often not aligned with host community staff preferences. Several concrete changes can be made to STMMs to bring practices more in line with the desires of the communities they serve.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.