{"id":1751,"date":"2011-05-01T17:43:09","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T17:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/?p=1751"},"modified":"2025-10-30T22:47:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T22:47:56","slug":"are-short-term-medical-missions-effective-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/2011\/05\/01\/are-short-term-medical-missions-effective-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Short-term Medical Missions Effective?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"are-short-term-medical-missions-effective-banner\"<\/a>\u201cIn Haiti over eight days we saw 900 patients, treating infections and diarrhea. The people are desperately poor and were so very grateful for the medical care.\u201d Anna, a family physician, spoke with enthusiasm. Then her voice turned somber. \u201cBut people also came to us with diabetes, asthma, and convulsions. We gave them a small supply of meds, but they can never afford ongoing treatment. What will happen to them?”<\/p>\n

Anna\u2019s frustration is shared by thousands of healthcare professionals who engage in short-term medical missions (STMM) each year. Their altruistic motives are often tempered by the reality of daunting questions. In fact Controversies In Short Term Medical Missions is one of the most often requested breakout sessions for this May\u2019s Humanitarian Health Conference.<\/p>\n

We would like to solicit your thoughts about the most common dilemmas facing those engaged in STMM. Next month we\u2019ll share some of your opinions with the 46,000 people who receive this newsletter.<\/p>\n

Regarding Anna\u2019s dilemma above, how would you as a STMM participant respond to the need for providing continuity of care for low-income people with chronic illnesses?<\/p>\n

Post your comment on the INMED Facebook Group<\/a> or email your comments to office@inmed.us<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOur team worked in Honduras for a week focusing on health of school children connected with a parish,\u201d explained Rachel, a pediatrics nurse. \u201cParasites penetrate the kids feet, and they are all are infected. We administered de-worming medication to the children. But then they walk home through the open sewage, where they\u2019ll surely become re-infected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider Rachel\u2019s situation. How would you in the context of STMM address prevention of common infections, malnutrition, or injuries?<\/p>\n

Post your comment on the INMED Facebook Group<\/a> or email your comments to office@inmed.us<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOur team traveled to the northeastern region of South Africa, where almost every other person is HIV positive.\u201d Stanley, a public health specialist, expressed high hopes for their two-week journey. \u201cI designed a presentation about sexual abstinence and condom use, and I gave it to several church groups. They all listened politely enough. But later, an elder quietly explained to me that males are expected and instructed to initiate sexual activity before even reaching their teen years. How can I be an effective educator when I know almost nothing about sexuality in their society?\u201d<\/p>\n

Think about Stanley\u2019s situation. How would you recommend STMM become more culturally relevant to the particular views and needs of the communities we wish to serve?<\/p>\n

Post your comment on the INMED Facebook Group<\/a> or email your comments to office@inmed.us<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you for sharing your insights! And please join us at the Humanitarian Health Conference as we together investigate how to make STMM more culturally relevant and effective over the long term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn Haiti over eight days we saw 900 patients, treating infections and diarrhea. The people are desperately poor and were so very grateful for the medical care.\u201d Anna, a family physician, spoke with enthusiasm. Then her voice turned somber. \u201cBut people also came to us with diabetes, asthma, and convulsions. We gave them a small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global-health-news-inspiration","category-low-resource-healthcare-pearls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}