Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development
Abstract Background At present, over 215 million people live outside their countries of birth, many of which are referred to as diaspora—those that live in host countries but maintain strong sentimental and material links with their countries of origin, their homelands. The critical shortage of Huma...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Human Resources for Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12960-019-0393-1 |
| _version_ | 1818383017582788608 |
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| author | Seble Frehywot Chulwoo Park Alexandra Infanzon |
| author_facet | Seble Frehywot Chulwoo Park Alexandra Infanzon |
| author_sort | Seble Frehywot |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background At present, over 215 million people live outside their countries of birth, many of which are referred to as diaspora—those that live in host countries but maintain strong sentimental and material links with their countries of origin, their homelands. The critical shortage of Human Resources for Health (HRH) in many developing countries remains a barrier to attaining their health system goals. Usage of medical diaspora can be one way to meet this need. A growing number of policy-makers have come to acknowledge that medical diaspora can play a vital role in the development of their homeland’s health workforce capacity. To date, no inventory of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) medical diaspora organizations has been done. This paper intends to develop an inventory that is as complete as possible, of the names of the LMIC medical diaspora organizations in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia and addresses their interests and roles in building the health system of their country of origin. Methods The researchers utilized six steps for their research methodology: (1) development of rationale for choosing the four destination countries (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia); (2) identification of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC); (3) web search for the name of LMIC medical diaspora organization in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia through the search engines of PubMed, Scopus, Google, Google Scholar, and LexisNexis; (4) development of inclusion and exclusion criteria and creation of a medical diaspora organizations’ inventory list (Table 1) and corresponding maps (Figures 1, 2, and 3). Using decision criteria, reviewers narrowed the number to a final 89 organizations; (5) synthesis of information to collect the general as well as the unique roles the medical diaspora organizations play in building health systems; and (6) developing inventory of respective LMIC governments’ diaspora offices (Table 2) to identify units/departments that facilitate diaspora’s work. Result In total, the authors found 89 medical diaspora organizations in 4 main countries: in the United States of America 60, in the United Kingdom 24, in Australia 3, and in Canada 2. These medical diaspora organizations tend to have three focuses: providing healthcare services, training, and when needed humanitarian aid to their home country; creating a social or professional network of migrant physicians (i.e., simply to bring together people with an ethnic and professional commonality) and; supplying improved and culturally sensitive healthcare to the migrant population within the host country. Sixty-eight LMIC countries have established a diaspora office within their government office. It is also equally important to note that many policy-makers may lack knowledge of models for medical diaspora engagement or of valuable lessons learned by other governments about working with diaspora. Conclusions The medical diaspora remains an underutilized resource in both health systems policy formulation and program implementation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T02:59:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be6312d6674244bcbfbbc0ca978e9b98 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1478-4491 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T02:59:41Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Human Resources for Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-be6312d6674244bcbfbbc0ca978e9b982022-12-21T23:19:33ZengBMCHuman Resources for Health1478-44912019-07-0117111610.1186/s12960-019-0393-1Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system developmentSeble Frehywot0Chulwoo Park1Alexandra Infanzon2Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington UniversityMilken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington UniversityLenoir-Rhyne UniversityAbstract Background At present, over 215 million people live outside their countries of birth, many of which are referred to as diaspora—those that live in host countries but maintain strong sentimental and material links with their countries of origin, their homelands. The critical shortage of Human Resources for Health (HRH) in many developing countries remains a barrier to attaining their health system goals. Usage of medical diaspora can be one way to meet this need. A growing number of policy-makers have come to acknowledge that medical diaspora can play a vital role in the development of their homeland’s health workforce capacity. To date, no inventory of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) medical diaspora organizations has been done. This paper intends to develop an inventory that is as complete as possible, of the names of the LMIC medical diaspora organizations in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia and addresses their interests and roles in building the health system of their country of origin. Methods The researchers utilized six steps for their research methodology: (1) development of rationale for choosing the four destination countries (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia); (2) identification of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC); (3) web search for the name of LMIC medical diaspora organization in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia through the search engines of PubMed, Scopus, Google, Google Scholar, and LexisNexis; (4) development of inclusion and exclusion criteria and creation of a medical diaspora organizations’ inventory list (Table 1) and corresponding maps (Figures 1, 2, and 3). Using decision criteria, reviewers narrowed the number to a final 89 organizations; (5) synthesis of information to collect the general as well as the unique roles the medical diaspora organizations play in building health systems; and (6) developing inventory of respective LMIC governments’ diaspora offices (Table 2) to identify units/departments that facilitate diaspora’s work. Result In total, the authors found 89 medical diaspora organizations in 4 main countries: in the United States of America 60, in the United Kingdom 24, in Australia 3, and in Canada 2. These medical diaspora organizations tend to have three focuses: providing healthcare services, training, and when needed humanitarian aid to their home country; creating a social or professional network of migrant physicians (i.e., simply to bring together people with an ethnic and professional commonality) and; supplying improved and culturally sensitive healthcare to the migrant population within the host country. Sixty-eight LMIC countries have established a diaspora office within their government office. It is also equally important to note that many policy-makers may lack knowledge of models for medical diaspora engagement or of valuable lessons learned by other governments about working with diaspora. Conclusions The medical diaspora remains an underutilized resource in both health systems policy formulation and program implementation.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12960-019-0393-1Medical diasporaLow- and middle-income countriesCapacity development |
| spellingShingle | Seble Frehywot Chulwoo Park Alexandra Infanzon Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development Human Resources for Health Medical diaspora Low- and middle-income countries Capacity development |
| title | Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development |
| title_full | Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development |
| title_fullStr | Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development |
| title_short | Medical diaspora: an underused entity in low- and middle-income countries’ health system development |
| title_sort | medical diaspora an underused entity in low and middle income countries health system development |
| topic | Medical diaspora Low- and middle-income countries Capacity development |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12960-019-0393-1 |
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