Short-Term Medical Service Trips: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Abstract

Short-term medical service trips (MSTs) aim to address unmet health care needs of low- and middle-income countries. The lack of critically reviewed empirical evidence of activities and outcomes is a concern. Developing evidence-based recommendations for health care delivery requires systematic research review. I focused on MST publications with empirical results. Searches in May 2013 identified 67 studies published since 1993, only 6% of the published articles on the topic in the past 20 years. Nearly 80% reported on surgical trips. Although the MST field is growing, its medical literature lags behind, with nearly all of the scholarly publications lacking significant data collection. By incorporating data collection into service trips, groups can validate practices and provide information about areas needing improvement.

Long-term follow-up is possible for short-term surgical trips

“…"Global surgery" encompasses a variety of interventions that have attempted to address that need, including short-term surgical missions (STSM) [1]. Methods can vary greatly between STSMs, but most share the goal of delivering quality care in the context of limited resources and time with the hope of long-lasting impact for patients [2][3][4][5]. However, obtaining long-term follow-up of patients is challenging for STSMs-and there are few descriptions of the methods used to achieve such follow-up and even fewer reports of clinical outcomes-making determination of their success challenging [3,6].…”

Medical Mission to Haiti

“…For those that need daily medication, such as anti-hypertensives, the goal is that the church or community leaders can assist them in receiving follow up care for the conditions. Those patients identified were provided with written referrals for follow up care to be arranged with the community leaders [7][8][9][10].…”

Cooperación internacional ¿en qué estamos y hacia dónde vamos?

“…Por otra parte, los OM se originan por la constatación de una población con alguna necesidad sanitaria insatisfecha 13 . Para subsanar este problema se organizan equipos de personal de salud para resolver casos seleccionados, por lo general patologías quirúrgicas, que no pueden ser resueltos por el sistema local 5,13,14 .…”

“…Para subsanar este problema se organizan equipos de personal de salud para resolver casos seleccionados, por lo general patologías quirúrgicas, que no pueden ser resueltos por el sistema local 5,13,14 . Este tipo de misiones tienen las ventajas de la optimización del trabajo, porque se trata de equipos compenetrados (aunque muchos pueden no conocerse con anticipación), la posibilidad de resolver patologías complejas e intentar asegurar un nivel de atención estándar a los pacientes.…”

“…Múltiples factores inciden en estos fenómenos, como la falta de comunicación con los agentes locales, poca comprensión del medio y sus necesidades, falta de integración local y transferencia de conocimientos. Asimismo, la escasez de métodos de evaluación comprehensivos y programas de mejoramiento continuo de los OM hacen de la sustentabilidad un foco de controversia 13 .…”