Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico
IntroductionShortages of health professionals is a common problem in humanitarian settings, including among migrants and refugees at the US-Mexico border. We aimed to investigate determinants and recruitment recommendations for working with migrants to better understand how to improve health profess...
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Artikel |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-10-01
|
| Schriftenreihe: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online Zugang: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1447054/full |
| _version_ | 1827070673632100352 |
|---|---|
| author | Christopher W. Reynolds Savannah F. Ryan Eesha Acharya Ipek Berberoglu Samuel Bishop Brendon Tucker Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda Jorge Armando Flores Ibarra Penelope Vera Laura Jocelyne Fuentes Orozco Sarah Draugelis Amir M. Mohareb Amir M. Mohareb Florian Schmitzberger |
| author_facet | Christopher W. Reynolds Savannah F. Ryan Eesha Acharya Ipek Berberoglu Samuel Bishop Brendon Tucker Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda Jorge Armando Flores Ibarra Penelope Vera Laura Jocelyne Fuentes Orozco Sarah Draugelis Amir M. Mohareb Amir M. Mohareb Florian Schmitzberger |
| author_sort | Christopher W. Reynolds |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionShortages of health professionals is a common problem in humanitarian settings, including among migrants and refugees at the US-Mexico border. We aimed to investigate determinants and recruitment recommendations for working with migrants to better understand how to improve health professional participation in humanitarian efforts.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with health professionals working with migrants at the US-Mexico border in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico. The study aimed to identify motivations, facilitators, barriers, and sacrifices to humanitarian work, and recommendations for effective learning approaches to increase participation. Participants included health professionals working within humanitarian organizations to deliver healthcare to migrants living in non-permanent encampments. Interviews lasted approximately 45 min and were analyzed in NVivo14 using a validated codebook and team-based methodology.ResultsAmong 27 participants, most were female (70%) with median age 32. Health professionals included nurses (41%), physicians (30%), logisticians (11%), social workers (7%), an EMT (4%), and a pharmacist (4%) from the US (59%), Mexico (22%), Cuba (11%), Peru (4%), and Nicaragua (4%) working for four organizations. Participants expressed internal motivations for working with migrants, including a desire to help vulnerable populations (78%), past experiences in humanitarianism (59%), and the need to address human suffering (56%). External facilitators included geographic proximity (33%), employer flexibility (30%), and logistical support (26%). Benefits included improved clinical skills (63%), sociocultural learning (63%), and impact for others (58%). Negative determinants included sacrifices such as career obligations (44%), family commitments (41%), and safety risks (41%), and barriers of limited education (44%) and volunteer opportunities (37%). Participants criticized aspects of humanitarian assistance for lower quality care, feeling useless, and minimizing local capacity. Recommendations to increase the health workforce caring for migrants included integration of humanitarian training for health students (67%), collaborations between health institutions and humanitarian organizations (52%), and improved logistical and mental health support (41%).ConclusionHealth professionals from diverse roles and countries identified common determinants to humanitarian work with migrants. Recommendations for recruitment reflected feasible and collaborative approaches for professionals, organizations, and trainees to pursue humanitarian health. These findings can be helpful in designing interventions to address workforce shortages in humanitarian migrant contexts. |
| first_indexed | 2025-03-20T00:26:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11e03cf6e2cc4f21a2f79e2f48c20b0b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-20T00:26:15Z |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-11e03cf6e2cc4f21a2f79e2f48c20b0b2024-10-10T04:47:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652024-10-011210.3389/fpubh.2024.14470541447054Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, MexicoChristopher W. Reynolds0Savannah F. Ryan1Eesha Acharya2Ipek Berberoglu3Samuel Bishop4Brendon Tucker5Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda6Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda7Jorge Armando Flores Ibarra8Penelope Vera9Laura Jocelyne Fuentes Orozco10Sarah Draugelis11Amir M. Mohareb12Amir M. Mohareb13Florian Schmitzberger14Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesUniversity of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesDepartment of Economics and Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesDepartment of Surgery, Section of Plastic Surgery, University of Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Global Response Medicine, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MexicoUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Global Response Medicine, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MexicoUniversitetet i Oslo, Oslo, NorwayPontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, ColombiaUniversidad Tamaulipeca, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MexicoUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Global Response Medicine, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MexicoUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Global Response Medicine, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MexicoTeam fEMR, St Clair Shores, MI, United States0Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States1Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States2Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesIntroductionShortages of health professionals is a common problem in humanitarian settings, including among migrants and refugees at the US-Mexico border. We aimed to investigate determinants and recruitment recommendations for working with migrants to better understand how to improve health professional participation in humanitarian efforts.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with health professionals working with migrants at the US-Mexico border in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico. The study aimed to identify motivations, facilitators, barriers, and sacrifices to humanitarian work, and recommendations for effective learning approaches to increase participation. Participants included health professionals working within humanitarian organizations to deliver healthcare to migrants living in non-permanent encampments. Interviews lasted approximately 45 min and were analyzed in NVivo14 using a validated codebook and team-based methodology.ResultsAmong 27 participants, most were female (70%) with median age 32. Health professionals included nurses (41%), physicians (30%), logisticians (11%), social workers (7%), an EMT (4%), and a pharmacist (4%) from the US (59%), Mexico (22%), Cuba (11%), Peru (4%), and Nicaragua (4%) working for four organizations. Participants expressed internal motivations for working with migrants, including a desire to help vulnerable populations (78%), past experiences in humanitarianism (59%), and the need to address human suffering (56%). External facilitators included geographic proximity (33%), employer flexibility (30%), and logistical support (26%). Benefits included improved clinical skills (63%), sociocultural learning (63%), and impact for others (58%). Negative determinants included sacrifices such as career obligations (44%), family commitments (41%), and safety risks (41%), and barriers of limited education (44%) and volunteer opportunities (37%). Participants criticized aspects of humanitarian assistance for lower quality care, feeling useless, and minimizing local capacity. Recommendations to increase the health workforce caring for migrants included integration of humanitarian training for health students (67%), collaborations between health institutions and humanitarian organizations (52%), and improved logistical and mental health support (41%).ConclusionHealth professionals from diverse roles and countries identified common determinants to humanitarian work with migrants. Recommendations for recruitment reflected feasible and collaborative approaches for professionals, organizations, and trainees to pursue humanitarian health. These findings can be helpful in designing interventions to address workforce shortages in humanitarian migrant contexts.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1447054/fullhumanitarian assistancemigrant healthrefugeeUS–Mexico borderglobal healthimmigration |
| spellingShingle | Christopher W. Reynolds Savannah F. Ryan Eesha Acharya Ipek Berberoglu Samuel Bishop Brendon Tucker Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda Juan Daniel Barreto-Arboleda Jorge Armando Flores Ibarra Penelope Vera Laura Jocelyne Fuentes Orozco Sarah Draugelis Amir M. Mohareb Amir M. Mohareb Florian Schmitzberger Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico Frontiers in Public Health humanitarian assistance migrant health refugee US–Mexico border global health immigration |
| title | Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico |
| title_full | Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico |
| title_fullStr | Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico |
| title_short | Determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the US-Mexico border: optimizing learning from health professionals in Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico |
| title_sort | determinants for the humanitarian workforce in migrant health at the us mexico border optimizing learning from health professionals in matamoros and reynosa mexico |
| topic | humanitarian assistance migrant health refugee US–Mexico border global health immigration |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1447054/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christopherwreynolds determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT savannahfryan determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT eeshaacharya determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT ipekberberoglu determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT samuelbishop determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT brendontucker determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT juandanielbarretoarboleda determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT juandanielbarretoarboleda determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT jorgearmandofloresibarra determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT penelopevera determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT laurajocelynefuentesorozco determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT sarahdraugelis determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT amirmmohareb determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT amirmmohareb determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico AT florianschmitzberger determinantsforthehumanitarianworkforceinmigranthealthattheusmexicoborderoptimizinglearningfromhealthprofessionalsinmatamorosandreynosamexico |