Global Health and Volunteering Beyond Borders

Global Health and Volunteering: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals is designed to educate volunteers to be effective partners in delivering medical services locally and globally. Healthcare professionals are increasingly interested in global health and volunteering in areas of acute need. The biggest challenge to health in many locales is the inability to access the health care system. When people do connect with medical services, medications and surgical opportunities for chronic disease (i.e. glaucoma, diabetes, or hypertension) are often not affordable or cannot be sustained for a long period of time. The contributions in this book focus on a respectful dialog with local people and a willingness to learn from new experiences on the part of the volunteer. Skills transfer from visiting personnel to local providers is featured as a means to enhance healthcare sustainability. An appreciation of differing cultures, an understanding of the local economic conditions and challenges, and strategies for collaborating with the existing medical establishment are foundations of successful volunteer experiences as highlighted in this book. Dimensions of global health such as professionalism, religious beliefs, ethical dilemmas, traditional medicine, and alternative strategies for service are addressed by experts. Written and edited by leaders in the field, many of whom have more than two decades of experience volunteering abroad, Global Health and Volunteering: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals imparts lessons learned to help the reader avoid initial mistakes, while making the global health commitment stronger.