Guidelines for responsible short-term global health activities: developing common principles

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Medical Ethics
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Growing concerns exist regarding the effectiveness and value of short-term volunteer trips aimed at health improvement in Global South communities.
• Multiple organizations and individuals have developed guidelines to mitigate potential harms and maximize benefits of these volunteer efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze existing guidelines for short-term medical missions (STMMs) based on literature up to early 2017.
• To examine the authorship, intended audiences, scope, and implementation focus of these guidelines.
• To compare guideline content with the perspectives of host communities and staff.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review of the literature was conducted to identify and analyze 27 guidelines related to STMMs.
• Guidelines were assessed for authorship, target audience, addressed aspects of STMMs, and attention to implementation.
• Findings were contextualized with studies on host country staff perspectives.

Main Results:

• Existing guidelines are predominantly authored by and directed towards Global North educators and practitioners.
• There is consensus on core principles: host partnerships, preparation, needs assessment, sustainability, and ethical standards.
• Host country staff agree with key principles but emphasize mutual learning and respect.

Conclusions:

• Guidelines require integration of host country research and policy directives, which are currently lacking.
• A comprehensive strategy is needed to ensure adherence to best practices, addressing limited regulation and strong incentives for non-compliance.
• Future guidelines should incorporate host country perspectives more robustly and address implementation challenges.