An Exploration of Participant Motives and Motivational Tensions in Short-Term Medical Service Trips

Abstract

Short-term medical service trips (MSTs) are an increasingly popular, although not new, way for healthcare providers from high-income countries (HICs) to provide healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In spite of criticisms for ethical marginality and questionable effectiveness, participants remain generally enthusiastic. This investigation uses a systematic literature review coupled with qualitative in-depth interviews embedded in an overall case-study approach to answer two primary research questions: (1) what is the status of the existing empirical data surrounding MST activities found in the published medical literature and (2) what do narratives from key members of a medical service organization tell us about the motives and motivational tensions of MST volunteers. I selected, for the case study, a medical service organization that plans and implements both medical and surgical MSTs in countries throughout the world. Paper one systematically reviews the MST literature reporting on empirical evidence. Nearly 95 percent of published articles lack significant data collection. By incorporating data collection into service trips, groups can begin to address the gap between providing care and understanding its impact on the communities being served. Paper two explores in-depth, the perspectives and experiences of volunteer participants, hoping to highlight the reasons they give for participating in MSTs. The existing literature includes a number of closed-ended surveys that create a gap by leaving out the intricacies of volunteer motivations. This paper also examines the potential relationship between the limited attention volunteers place on evaluating MST outcomes. The third paper discusses the relationships MST volunteers build with healthcare workers (HCWs) in the host communities. Previously published articles fail to include in-depth descriptions of the perspectives or experiences of volunteers from HICs associated with these relationships. Volunteers express short- and long-term goals for the relationships they develop on MSTs. The purpose of this paper is to explore how volunteers make choices that influence the balance between these goals. Individual team leaders create a culture that either promotes interactions that empower or overpower local HCWs. Awareness of the lack of balance in power and the sociocultural impact of that imbalance may help volunteers provide higher quality care.