Short-term health missions-Quality of care

Short-term health missions-Quality of care

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

International Standards & Practice Guidelines (IS&Gs)

  1. Improving health-care quality in resource-poor settings
  2. Management for health services delivery programs
    Important leadership and management topics
    Ethics
    Management of quality of care
    Management of community health services
    Management of resources and support systems
  3. WHO Humanitarian Health Action Programs
    Emergency Medical Teams and World Health Organization
    Classification and minimum standards for foreign medical teams in sudden onset disasters
  4. Integrated Health Services (2008)
  5. Evidence-informed policy-making
  6. Effective aid, better health
  7. Aid effectiveness and health
  8. World Medical Association Declaration with Guidelines for Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care
  9.  WHO-Foreign Medical Team Working Group
    Registration and coordination of Foreign Medical Teams responding to sudden onset disasters-The way forward 2013
    Proceedings of the WHO/PAHO Technical Consultation on International Foreign Medical Teams (FMTs) Post Sudden Onset Disasters (SODs) 2010
  10. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme
    Joint programmes
    Basic Social Services Global Program (See Section II “Past cooperation and lessons learned”  re Primary Care)
  11. The Sphere Handbook-Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response See especially:
    Minimum standards in health action
    Core Standards
    Core Standard 6: Aid worker performance  (Refers to: People in Aid Code of Good Practice )
  12. Health systems topics
    Guidelines on health systems
    Systems Thinking for Health Systems Strengthening
    The Alliance for Health Policy & Systems Research
    Improving the quality of health care across the health system 2018
  13. National quality policy and strategy: WHO initiative
    WHO Handbook on national quality policy and strategy  2018
  14. Delivering quality health services: a global imperative for universal health coverage 2018
  15. WHO Global Learning Laboratory for Quality Universal Health Coverage
    Compassion

Missions Specific Best Practices Documents

(Demonstrate Compliance with International Standards & Guidelines)

I. FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATION (FBO) OPEN-ACCESS DOCUMENTS:
A. American Society of Missiology
Short-Term Medical Missions: Enhancing or Eroding Health?–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

B. Best Practices in Global Health Missions (BPGHM)–Some of the following may contain no references to IS&Gs but appear to demonstrate compliance:
Accord Network Principles of Excellence in Integral Mission
Standards of Excellence in Short-term Mission (SOE)
Avoiding Dependency–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance
International Standards & Practice Guidelines & Health Missions
Why Patients are at Much Greater Risk of Harm from Drugs in the Short-term Mission Setting
Harm from Drugs in Short-term Missions–Review of the Medical Literature

C. Catholic Health Association of the United States
Short-term medical mission trips: Recommendations for practice 2015
A Reflection Guide for International Health Activities 2016

D. Christian Health Service Corps
Operating Responsible Short-Term Healthcare Missions

E. Christian Journal for Global Health (CJGH)
Principles to guide a volunteer humanitarian faith-based short-term medical mission in Nepal: A case study
Systems Thinking in Short-term Health Missions: A Conceptual Introduction and Consideration of Implications for Practice
Identification of Current Best Practices for Short-term Medical Mission Trips and Adherence to Current Common Principles and Guidelines
Humble Thyself: The Imitation of Christ in Medical Missions
Considering Medical Missions in all its Different Forms: A Viewpoint from the Asia-Pacific Region

F. Crossnetwork Journal (Discontinued precursor to CJGH)
Some of the following may contain no references to IS&Gs but appear to demonstrate compliance:
Short-term Medical Missions–Some Quality of Care Issues
Short Term Healthcare Missions–Legal and Ethical Considerations
Editorial Comments on Short Term Healthcare Missions–Dan Fountain
Reflections on Short-Term Medical Missions by a Long-Termer

G. Delta Ministries International (Corbett & Fikkert)
Doing Short-term Missions without Doing Long-term Harm–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

H. Evangelical Fellowship of Canada–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance:
The Guide to Best Practice in Short-term Mission
The Code of Best Practice for Short-Term Mission

I. Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
Re-imaging Medical Missions: Results of the PRISM Survey

J. Global CHE Network / Medical Ambassadors International / Neighborhood Transformation
How To Start CHE Programs Using Short Term Teams–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

K. Global Connections (UK)
Short-Term Mission Code of Best Practice–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

L. Journal of Christian Nursing
Evaluating Short Term Missions-How Can We Improve? 
The Perils and Promise of Short-Term Healthcare Missions
Potential Pitfalls of Short-Term Medical Mission

M. The Other Side
Short Term Missions: Are they worth the cost?–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

N. World Evangelical Alliance Resources —Some of the following may contain no references to IS&Gs but appear to demonstrate compliance:
Code of Best Practices for Christian Refugee Ministry
The Code of Best Practice in Short-term Mission
The Code of Best Practice for Church to Church Partnerships
Three Mission Eras (Ralph Winter)

II. SECULAR OPEN-ACCESS DOCUMENTS:
A. American Academy of Pediatrics
Partnerships for Global Child Health
Preparation for Working in Resource-Limited Settings
Supporting Pediatric Global Health and the Pediatric Department Level: Why & How 
— Global Initiatives

B. American Academy of Physician Assistants Policy Manual
Guidelines for PAs Working Internationally 2011–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

C. American Journal of Medicine
Rules of Engagement: The Principles of Underserved Global Health Volunteerism 2012

D. American Journal of Tropical Medicine
Short-Term Global Health Research Projects by US Medical Students: Ethical Challenges for Partnerships   2010
Ethics and Best Practice Guidelines for Training Experiences in Global Health 2010

E. AmeriCares
Medical Outreach: Best Practices Study- A Literature Review 2013

F. BioMed Central Globalization and Health
Applying global standards to short-term global health clinical experiences: the case of Project Salud y Paz 2019
Guidelines for responsible short-term global health activities: developing common principles 2018
Short term global health experiences and local partnership models: a framework 2015
Brain Gains: a literature review of medical missions to low and middle-income countries –No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance 2011
Fly-By medical care: Conceptualizing the global and local social responsibilities of medical tourists and physician voluntourists 2011 .
The Perceptions of Short-term Medical Volunteer Work: a Qualitative Study in Guatemala  2009
Health impact assessment and short-term medical missions: A methods study to evaluate quality of care 2008

G. International Conference on Humanitarian Medical Mission (Proceedings of Singapore Health Care)
International guidelines for the successful organization of humanitarian medical missions (HMMs) during peacetime 2014–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance

H. International Pediatric Association (IPA)
IPA Statements

I. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health–Global Health
Ethical Challenges in Short-Term Global Health Training
An ethics curriculum for short-term global health trainees

J. The Lancet-Global Health Series See especially:
Indigenous Health 2009
Treating Individuals  2005
High-Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era  2018
How could health care be anything other than high quality? 2018

K. Medical Clinics of North America
The Ethics of Medical Volunteerism 2016

L. Advocacy for Global Health Partnerships
Brocher Declaration
Webinar Links
PQMD Healthcare System Strengthening / Medical Mission Initiative
Literature Review for MM-HSS Inititative – PQMD
Global Health Action
Short-term volunteer health trips: aligning host community preferences and organizer practices

M. Unite for Sight–No references to IS&Gs but appears to demonstrate compliance:
Module 7: Ethical, Quality Volunteering
Module 8: The Significant Harms of Worst Practices

N. World Bank Group
Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd ed. 2006 See especially:
Chapter 70: Improving the Quality of Care in Developing Countries

O. WorldWideScience.org-The Global Science Gateway
Sample records for short-term medical missions–Contains a number of documents, some contain no references to IS&Gs.

P. Cornell University Press
Hoping to Help-Introduction  
Hoping to HelpChapter 8: Mutuality and Continuity-Two Pillars of Effective Programs
—Further information is available at Hoping to Help-The Promises and Pitfalls of Global Health Volunteering
—Also referenced in National Public Radio: Is It Time To Rethink The Fly-In Medical Mission?

Q. BioMed Central-Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines
More harm than good? The questionable ethics of medical volunteering and international student placements

R. American College of Physicians
Ethical Obligations Regarding Short-Term Global Health Clinical Experiences: An American College of Physicians Position Paper 2018

S. The American Board of Pediatrics
Global Health in Pediatric Education: An Implementation Guide for Program Directors

T. Annals of Global Health
Short Term Experiences in Global Health (STEGHs): Urgent Need for a Legal and Ethical Framework
Not Above the Law: A Legal and Ethical Analysis of Short-Term Experiences in Global Health

U. US National Academies of Sciences.
Crossing the global quality chasm: improving health care worldwide 2018

V. Hastings Center Report
Scrutinizing Global Short-Term Medical Outreach 2007 Brief excerpt (Not available open access).