Ghanaian views of short-term medical missions: The pros, the cons, and the possibilities for improvement
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Globalization and Health
Abstract
Background: Various governments in Ghana have tried to improve healthcare in the country. Despite these efforts,
meeting health care needs is a growing concern to government and their citizens. Short term medical missions
from other countries are one of the responses to meet the challenges of healthcare delivery in Ghana. This research
aimed to understand Ghanaian perceptions of short-term missions from the narratives of host country staff
involved. The study from which this paper is developed used a qualitative design, which combined a case study
approach and political economy analysis involving in-depth interviews with 28 participants.
Result: Findings show short term medical mission programs in Ghana were largely undertaken in rural
communities to address shortfalls in healthcare provision to these areas. The programs were often delivered free
and were highly appreciated by communities and host institutions. While the contributions of STMM to health
service provision have been noted, there were challenges associated with how they operated. The study found
concerns over language and how volunteers effectively interacted with communities. Other identified challenges
were the extent to which volunteers undermined local expertise, using fraudulent qualifications by some
volunteers, and poor skills and lack of experience leading to wrong diagnoses sometimes. The study found a lack of
awareness of rules requiring the registration of practitioners with national professional regulatory bodies, suggesting
non enforcement of volunteers’ need for local certification.
Conclusion: Short Term Medical Missions appear to contribute to addressing some of the critical gaps in
healthcare delivery. However, there is an urgent need to address the challenges of ineffective utilisation and lack of
oversight of these programs to maximise their benefits.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Volunteers,, short term, medical mission, healthcare