Best Practices in Global Health Missions
Potential Best Practices Topics
- Missiological Strategies
- church planting & growth
- using health related ministries (HRM’s) for church planting in restricted access locations
- using HRM’s for church planting where a strong national church already exists
- how can HRMs be used to strengthen the local church?
- unreached peoples
- Receiver/Host discipleship
- Goer/Participant discipleship
- avoiding Messiah Complex and ethnocentrism
- Evangelism though curative care delivery (bridge-building, love, cultural adaptation)
- church planting & growth
- Strategic Alliances/Networking and Partnership issues
- Coordination/Collaboration with host country health systems
- public health/PHC
- government facilities – community health centers, clinics, hospitals
- host church health workers
- private health providers –
- Coordination/Collaboration with secular NGO/relief and development organizations
- Coordination/Collaboration with other Christian NGO/church/relief and development groups
- avoiding unhealthy dependency while developing a healthy interdependency
- Coordination/Collaboration with host country health systems
- Legal aspects
- permission – curative care with legal permission from host country (Ministry of Health and ?other licensing boards?)
- liability
- bribes
- medication handling
- patients rights-informed consent
- licensure — medical and nursing
- Curative care issues
- Surgical issues
- informed consent
- scope of practice –
- skill transfer
- Medication use
- inordinate focus
- expiration
- limitations – using meds on STHRM that are unavailable in the host country
- risks & benefits
- conformity with WHO recommendations
- Language proficiency and translation for medical/health information.
- Appropriate technology
- Surgical issues
- Education
- Host/Receiver health workers
- Sent/Goer participants – short-term workers may have as much to learn as hosts
- Integrating with host country teaching institutions
- Providing CME type credits in rural settings
- Primary Health Care initiatives
- cooperation with UN MDG’s
- how do we define PHC?
- how do you actually do PHC as defined by the Alma Ata declaration – with the people and not just for them.
- who should do PHC? Are physicians the best to fill this role? Nurses?
- health promoters
- Mid-level providers — roles and scope of practice
- Research efforts
- spiritual & physical effectiveness of interventions
- effects of STHRM’s (short term health related missions)
- how to most effectively work in collaboration/coordination with other HR initiatives.
- Identifying and measuring outcomes (using metrics)
- Ethical standards
- Case studies
- Health in Transformational Development
- Strengthening Health Systems
- role for being advocates for the poor
- role in promoting just healthcare systems
- facilities administration/management
- shouldering the cost-issues of sustainability
11. Occupational Therapy
12. Mental Health
13. Reconciliation
14. Nutrition
15. Clean Water
16. The Environment
