Ethical Challenges and Considerations of Short-Term International Medical Initiatives: An Excursion to Ghana as a Case Study

Jesus, John E.

doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2009.07.014

Cited by 50 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…challenges. 5 However, if cultural sensitivity has any credence it is surely that societies are entitled to create their own customs and practice. So expecting to work within local norms is essential.…”

Section: Boost or Burden?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even donations of expired drugs or outdated medical books may be well intended but can be unhelpful, cause offense or even harm. 5,6 conclusion Host units generally appreciate and value visits from western staff and students, otherwise they would not accept them. However they can clearly be a mixed blessing and factors such as associated funding, the hope that some will eventually return to work there in the future, or even an element of moral support for isolated ex-patriot staff may be at play.…”

Section: Boost or Burden?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Boost or burden? Issues posed by short placements in resource-poor settings

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Boost or Burden?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Boost or Burden?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Boost or burden? Issues posed by short placements in resource-poor settings

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Nonetheless, whether this analogy holds is not essential to the overall project to develop ethical guidance and review (even if it does underscore the paucity of existing guidance). The mere risk of harm during short-term work suggests a need for ethical review (see Montgomery 1993;DeCamp 2007;Suchdev et al 2007;Crump and Sugarman 2009;Jesus 2010).…”

Section: A Need For Ethical Guidancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasingly, however, many recognize and elaborate on the risks for harm in short-term medical volunteerism (Montgomery 1993, p. 334). This includes how short-term work can be self-serving (by offering more benefits, educational or otherwise, to those on the trip than to those in the target community); ineffective (by delivering inappropriate or unsustainable care); or costly (by diverting local resources or undermining community caregivers) (Suchdev et al 2007, p. 317; see also Jesus 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Ethical Review of Global Short-Term Medical Volunteerism

DeCamp

2011

HEC Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Global short-term medical volunteerism is growing, and properly conducted, is a tool in the fight for greater global health equity. It is intrinsically "ethical" (i.e., it involves ethics at every step) and depends upon ethical conduct for its success. At present, ethical guidelines remain in their infancy, which presents a unique opportunity. This paper presents a set of basic ethical principles, building on prior work in this area and previously developed guidelines for international clinical research. The content of these principles, and the benchmarks used to evaluate them, remain intentionally vague and can only be filled by collaboration with those on-the-ground in local communities where this work occurs. Ethical review must additionally take into consideration the different obligations arising from the type of institution, type of intervention, and type of relationship involved. This paper argues that frequent and formalized ethical review, conducted from the beginning with the local community (where this community helps define the terms of debate), remains the most important ethical safeguard for this work.

show abstract

“…Without collaboration with local healthcare systems and governments, foreign aid can take pressure off of local systems to improve healthcare. Local residents may also view the care provided by foreign HCPs as superior, potentially creating distrust or non-reliance on local healthcare systems 1 5 30. Furthermore, providing medical and surgical services, medications, or medical devices that are locally unavailable or with which local providers are unfamiliar, may create complications that local healthcare systems are unable to manage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New trends of short-term humanitarian medical volunteerism: professional and ethical considerations

Asgary

Junck

2012

J Med Ethics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Short-term humanitarian medical volunteerism has grown significantly among both clinicians and trainees over the past several years. Increasingly, both volunteers and their respective institutions have faced important challenges in regard to medical ethics and professional codes that should not be overlooked. We explore these potential concerns and their risk factors in three categories: ethical responsibilities in patient care, professional responsibility to communities and populations, and institutional responsibilities towards trainees. We discuss factors increasing the risk of harm to patients and communities, including inadequate preparation, the use of advanced technology and the translation of Western medicine, issues with clinical epidemiology and test utility, difficulties with the principles of justice and clinical justice, the lack of population-based medicine, sociopolitical effects of foreign aid, volunteer stress management, and need for sufficient trainee supervision. We review existing resources and offer suggestions for future skill-based training, organisational responsibilities, and ethical preparation.

show abstract

Ethical Challenges and Considerations of Short-Term International Medical Initiatives: An Excursion to Ghana as a Case Study

Cited by 50 publications

References 30 publications

Boost or burden? Issues posed by short placements in resource-poor settings

Boost or burden? Issues posed by short placements in resource-poor settings

Ethical Review of Global Short-Term Medical Volunteerism

New trends of short-term humanitarian medical volunteerism: professional and ethical considerations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About