Getting it right: Culturally safe approaches to health partnership work in low to middle income countries

Abstract

Many health professionals become engaged in international health and education work in low to middle income countries, often as part of health partnerships. This type of work, increasingly popular in an age of global health, can present a number of challenges. Many of these involve cultural factors which are often acknowledged in the literature on overseas health work but rarely explored in depth. This paper aims to illustrate the key cultural considerations to be made by those currently engaged in or considering overseas health and education work in a low to middle income country. A comprehensive literature review methodology was used to examine data through the lens of Cultural Safety Theory and as a result provide guidance for professionals working with international colleagues. Recommendations for practice are based on the importance of gaining an understanding of the host country's history and social context and of professionals examining their own individual worldviews.

Enhancing knowledge and skills through the delivery of a bespoke neonatal resuscitation training programme in a developing country

“…Other suggestions for future development of the programme include: additional CPD and refresher support for the trainers exploring the feasibility of an exchange programme with trainers to facilitate sharing of good practice further rollout to other areas of the country future evaluation to include measurement of the impact of training on neonatal mortality rates. Consequently, with relevant support and resources, based upon mutually strong and respectful partnership working (Taylor 2017), it is possible that additional low income countries could successfully adopt a similar training strategy.…”

Implicaciones de los actores locales en las intervenciones para la promoción de la salud bucodental destinadas a niños de edad preescolar y escolar en entornos vulnerables

“…Además, la implicación de actores locales puede por supuesto brindar un mejor conocimiento de los desafíos y de las dinámicas presentes (5,6) . Tal proceso permite también estar más enfocado en las necesidades locales (7) , darle localmente mayor credibilidad a las intervenciones (5,8) , y desarrollar intervenciones mejor contextualizadas en las realidades lugareñas (5,6) . Sin embargo, se deben abordar ciertos desafíos para facilitar su implicación y así mejorar el estado de salud bucodental de niños de edad preescolar y escolar.…”

“…Un primer desafío sería de asegurar una participación plena de los actores locales en distintas etapas del proceso de implementación de una intervención de PSBD. Para superar este primer desafío, sería necesario desarrollar herramientas de animación e intercambio que asegurarán su participación plena (10) , y limitar los desequilibrios de poder entre los responsables de la toma de decisión, profesionales y actores locales (7,10) . El desarrollo de un lenguaje común sin terminología compleja permitiría asimismo minimizar los malentendidos entre los actores y favorecer los intercambios (11) .…”