The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations
BackgroundSurgical volunteer organizations have been severely limited during the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic. Our purpose was to identify obstacles to surgical volunteer organizations secondary to COVID-19 and their responses.MethodsForty-one surgical volunteer organizations participated in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Surgery |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.868023/full |
| _version_ | 1818348846776844288 |
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| author | Spencer Lyons Amy L. Xu Wesley M. Durand Shyam Patel Julius K. Oni Jacob M. Babu |
| author_facet | Spencer Lyons Amy L. Xu Wesley M. Durand Shyam Patel Julius K. Oni Jacob M. Babu |
| author_sort | Spencer Lyons |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundSurgical volunteer organizations have been severely limited during the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic. Our purpose was to identify obstacles to surgical volunteer organizations secondary to COVID-19 and their responses.MethodsForty-one surgical volunteer organizations participated in a web-based survey (156 invited, 26% response rate). Respondents were separated into two groups: low donations surgical volunteer organizations (≤50% donations of previous year; n = 17) and high donations surgical volunteer organizations (≥75%; n = 24). Univariate analyses were used to compare the two cohorts.ResultsOf responding surgical volunteer organizations, 34 (83%) were unable to maintain full functionality due to COVID-19; 27% of high donations vs. 0% of low donations surgical volunteer organizations (p = 0.02). The three leading obstacles were finances/donations (78%), fewer volunteers (38%), and inadequate personal protective equipment (30%). In response, 39% of surgical volunteer organizations developed novel E-volunteering opportunities. For support, 85% of surgical volunteer organizations suggested monetary donations, 78% promotion through social media platforms, and 54% donation of personal protective equipment.ConclusionThe majority of surgical volunteer organizations were unable to maintain full functionality due to stressors caused by COVID-19, including limitations on finances, volunteers, and personal protective equipment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:56:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-697c699daf1d48939eda8e894058de46 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-875X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:56:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Surgery |
| spelling | doaj.art-697c699daf1d48939eda8e894058de462022-12-21T23:36:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Surgery2296-875X2022-04-01910.3389/fsurg.2022.868023868023The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer OrganizationsSpencer Lyons0Amy L. Xu1Wesley M. Durand2Shyam Patel3Julius K. Oni4Jacob M. Babu5The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesDepartment of Orthopaedics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United StatesDepartment of Orthopaedics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United StatesThe Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesDepartment of Orthopaedics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United StatesDepartment of Orthopaedics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United StatesBackgroundSurgical volunteer organizations have been severely limited during the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic. Our purpose was to identify obstacles to surgical volunteer organizations secondary to COVID-19 and their responses.MethodsForty-one surgical volunteer organizations participated in a web-based survey (156 invited, 26% response rate). Respondents were separated into two groups: low donations surgical volunteer organizations (≤50% donations of previous year; n = 17) and high donations surgical volunteer organizations (≥75%; n = 24). Univariate analyses were used to compare the two cohorts.ResultsOf responding surgical volunteer organizations, 34 (83%) were unable to maintain full functionality due to COVID-19; 27% of high donations vs. 0% of low donations surgical volunteer organizations (p = 0.02). The three leading obstacles were finances/donations (78%), fewer volunteers (38%), and inadequate personal protective equipment (30%). In response, 39% of surgical volunteer organizations developed novel E-volunteering opportunities. For support, 85% of surgical volunteer organizations suggested monetary donations, 78% promotion through social media platforms, and 54% donation of personal protective equipment.ConclusionThe majority of surgical volunteer organizations were unable to maintain full functionality due to stressors caused by COVID-19, including limitations on finances, volunteers, and personal protective equipment.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.868023/fullCOVID-19surgical volunteer organizationsinternational healthcarelow- and middle-income countries (LMIC)survey |
| spellingShingle | Spencer Lyons Amy L. Xu Wesley M. Durand Shyam Patel Julius K. Oni Jacob M. Babu The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations Frontiers in Surgery COVID-19 surgical volunteer organizations international healthcare low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) survey |
| title | The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations |
| title_full | The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations |
| title_short | The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Functionality of International Surgical Volunteer Organizations |
| title_sort | impact of the covid 19 pandemic on the functionality of international surgical volunteer organizations |
| topic | COVID-19 surgical volunteer organizations international healthcare low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) survey |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.868023/full |
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