From Short-term Surgical Missions Towards Sustainable Partnerships

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Introduction: Recently, the devastating consequences of neglected surgical care in global health became apparent with an estimated five billion people lacking access to safe surgical and anesthesia care. Traditionally, short-term surgical missions were the predominant strategy how surgical care was supported in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Although surgical missions have been criticized in recent literature they are still being performed on a large scale. The aim of this study is to provide recommendations for persons and organizations involved in surgical mission on how to strengthen surgical care in LMICs in the future. Method: An online survey was developed for members of foreign teams. Data was collected on 5 topics, consisting of: 1) basic characteristics of the missions, 2) main activities, 2) follow-up and reporting, 3) the local registration process for foreign teams and 4) collaboration with local stakeholders.

Official Title
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From Short-term Surgical Missions Towards Sustainable Partnerships. A Survey Among Members of Foreign Teams

Conditions
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Global Surgery, Medical Missions

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: no intervention


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Members of foreign teams, that did participate in at least one short-term surgical mission in a hospital in a LMIC Exclusion Criteria: -
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Other: no intervention|no intervention study, survey amongst health workers|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Q7: Country Where the Last Mission Took Place | Answer on the question: What was the country where your last mission took place? | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q8: Name of the Place and Hospital Where the Last Mission Took Place | List with names of the places and hospitals where the last mission took place | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q9: Number of Participants Per Organization | Name of the organization that supported the last mission of the participant | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q10: Countries Where the NGOs Are Based | List of countries where the supporting NGOs of the last mission are based | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q11: Importance of Potential Activities | Points provided (1-4) for four potential activities of a visiting team (more points = more important activity) The points provided by all participants are summed per specific activity and the total scores are compared The four potential activities are: Treat patients yourself Provide surgical equipment and consumables for the local team Provide free treatment Facilitate teaching of local staff Scale with importance of potential activities. Maximum score: 4x58 = 232 | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q12: Activities That Where Missing in Question 11. | Respondents that were missing this activity as an option in question 11 Total number of respondents that were missing an activity: 29 Activities that were missing: Financial collaboration Advocacy Academic collaboration Sustainability Collaboration with local staff Follow-up | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q13. Medical Registration is Required in the Host Country | Medical registration in the host country is required for specialists performing short-term reconstructive missions Participants of the survey were asked what they think of this statement: Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q14: The Process of Obtaining Medical Registration Was Straightforward | The Process of Obtaining Medical Registration Was Straightforward Participants of the survey were asked what they think of this statement: Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q15: Collaboration | What can you say about the collaboration between authorities in LMICs and visiting surgical teams? Participants of the survey were asked to choose one of the following answers on this question: collaboration is present but improvement is needed there is no collaboration and it should be developed as a priority collaboration has no benefits nor disadvantages collaboration will likely be more harmful than beneficial for the mission | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q16. What Should Have a Higher Priority in the Hospital of Your Last Mission? | What should have a higher priority in the hospital of your last mission ? Respondents were asked to choose on the these two answers: Teaching in anesthesia care or teaching in surgical care | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q17. A Structured Follow-up Strategy is Required | A structured follow-up strategy (>6 months) of patients is required for short-term reconstructive surgical missions. Participants of the survey were asked what they think of this statement: Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q18. One Month After the Mission, an Official Report is Recommended | One month after the mission, an official report on the outcome including all complications encountered is recommended for all missions. Participants of the survey were asked what they think of this statement: Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q19. A Written Long-term Strategy is Recommended at the Start of a New Project. | A written long-term strategy (>5 years) with clear goals, developed by the visiting team and the local actors together, is recommended at the start of a new project. Participants of the survey were asked what they think of this statement: Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree | approximately 20 minutes | 
| Q20. Suggestions to Improve the Impact of Short Term Reconstructive Missions. | What would you suggest to improve the impact of short term reconstructive missions? The answers were categorized and the three most mentioned categories are: Teaching of local staff Follow-up Building sustainable partnerships The three activities were mentioned in total 68 times in the comments The distribution among the three categories is shown below | approximately 20 minutes |