A questionnaire study of the negative outcomes for UK health professional volunteers in low and middle income countries

Abstract

IntroductionPast research has reported considerable benefits of international health professional volunteering for British healthcare professionals; however, there are also some negative outcomes reported. Negative outcomes reportedly happen on a personal, professional and organisational level. However, there is little evidence of the frequency they might occur.MethodsWe aimed to understand what the negative outcomes of health professional volunteering in low-income and middle-income countries were, and how frequently they occurred, in an opportunistic sample of UK health professionals. We used a questionnaire developed using potential negative outcomes reported in the peer-reviewed papers. We conducted secondary analysis on cross-sectional questionnaire data from 222 healthcare professionals.ResultsThis research provides an indication of the frequency that negative outcomes might occur. Post hoc analyses revealed that some outcomes were experienced by the majority of health professional volunteers, for example, lack of formal recognition (131/169, 78%) and financial cost (92/169, 68%). While others happened less, for example, a reliance on agency or locum work (12/169, 7%) and loss of pension (31/169, 18%).ConclusionThe outcomes reported in this research quantify some of the concerns that have been raised in previous literature. Negative outcomes might be associated with certain features of volunteering and further research is needed to prospectively compare different features. Organisers of volunteering opportunities should be aware of the potential negative outcomes and engage with the research into negative outcomes to generate and apply findings about minimising potential negative outcomes, carefully balancing these against the needs of the host country.

Experiences and impact of international medical volunteering: a multi-country mixed methods study

“…33 A recent study has highlighted that some UK-based healthcare providers who have volunteered in LMIC clinical settings reported negative outcomes including a lack of recognition for work undertaken, pressure to work outside one's competence, impact on accreditation, adverse health consequences, culture shock and isolation. 34 In contrast to this study, none of the healthcare providers interviewed or surveyed in our study described such negative outcomes. This may be because the type of medical volunteering in our study was well supported short-term, multidisciplinary team based and the role focused on clinical teaching in training workshops as part of a large multi-country implementation programme and not a one-off isolated clinical placement.…”

Occupation-Related Volunteering: A Qualitative Systematic Literature Review, Conceptualization, and Directions for Future Research

“…1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 The professionals studied gave time but mobilized resources (e.g., Wilson & Musick, 1997b), turning the social resources of professional networks and ''reputational capital'' from volunteering work (e.g., Kazun, 2021) and cultural capital of professional disposition and qualification into economic benefits of client generation, career development (e.g., Bartlett & Taylor, 2016;Bitzer & Geishecker, 2010;Kazun, 2021;Liddy & Tormey, 2020). Conversely, economic capital converts to social and cultural capital by paying for out-of-pocket expenses, forgone annual leave or retirement benefits and personal or own-practice infrastructure, such as computing resources for online volunteering or operating theatres for dental procedures (e.g., Butler et al, 2011;Mui et al, 2021;Tyler et al, 2020;Zhou et al, 2019).…”

“…Another consideration is that although this review captured studies from the individuals’ perspective, authors noted a gap in research on the beneficiary and host organization’s views (Caldron et al, 2018; Lough & Xiang, 2016b; McCauley et al, 2018; Tang & Schwantes, 2021). In addition, unintended consequences for the recipients (Caldron et al, 2018) and for occupation-related volunteers (Plummer et al, 2008; Tyler et al, 2020) are also a research direction.…”

“…Second, reviewed articles also reported opportunity costs, that is, the cost of the professional not performing their “paid” or other roles. For extra-organizational volunteering, these included loss of income, social security contributions, annual leave entitlements and time spent away from home (Butler et al, 2011; Caldron et al, 2018; Granfield, 2007; Rhode, 2003; Smith et al, 2019; Tyler et al, 2020). Equally affected are individuals undertaking post-qualification service-learning for professional development (Rovers et al, 2016; Sin et al, 2019; Tang & Schwantes, 2021; Tyler et al, 2020).…”

“…For extra-organizational volunteering, these included loss of income, social security contributions, annual leave entitlements and time spent away from home (Butler et al, 2011; Caldron et al, 2018; Granfield, 2007; Rhode, 2003; Smith et al, 2019; Tyler et al, 2020). Equally affected are individuals undertaking post-qualification service-learning for professional development (Rovers et al, 2016; Sin et al, 2019; Tang & Schwantes, 2021; Tyler et al, 2020). When working in professional service firms, such as legal or dental practices, the opportunity cost of spending time on unremunerated, voluntary activities is the direct loss of billings as firms sacrifice revenue otherwise generated by the employee.…”