Freedom of choice, expressions of gratitude: Patient experiences of short-term surgical missions in Guatemala

Roche, Stephanie; Brockington, Morgan; Fathima, Sana; Nandi, Meghna; Silverberg, Benjamin; Rice, Henry E.; Hall-Clifford, Rachel

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.05.021

Cited by 15 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, these exceptionally positive attitudes to STMMs and a sense of gratitude have also been reported in the literature for aid recipients 16 20. Roche et al described a potential power imbalance for aid recipients of STMMs, possibly reflecting recipients’ inability to navigate, access or afford local healthcare, leading to a sense of obligatory gratitude to the compassion shown by the STMM team 20. They emphasised that STMMs could inadvertently contribute to inequalities in health in LMICs by adding to the complexities of a local healthcare system, which may not be accessible or affordable to all 20.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Reflexivity continued throughout the analysis. However, these exceptionally positive attitudes to STMMs and a sense of gratitude have also been reported in the literature for aid recipients 16 20. Roche et al described a potential power imbalance for aid recipients of STMMs, possibly reflecting recipients’ inability to navigate, access or afford local healthcare, leading to a sense of obligatory gratitude to the compassion shown by the STMM team 20.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Roche et al described a potential power imbalance for aid recipients of STMMs, possibly reflecting recipients’ inability to navigate, access or afford local healthcare, leading to a sense of obligatory gratitude to the compassion shown by the STMM team 20. They emphasised that STMMs could inadvertently contribute to inequalities in health in LMICs by adding to the complexities of a local healthcare system, which may not be accessible or affordable to all 20. Working with local healthcare providers, aiming to explore their needs and how healthcare can be improved for all should be an essential part of all STMMs 11…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This type of healthcare evaluation, however, is not widely practised or reported for STMMs in LMICs. While White et al quantitatively measured overall satisfaction of mission-based surgery,19 there has been limited qualitative research regarding experiences and perspectives of surgery among recipients of mission-based surgical provision 12 16 20…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Lasting impact: a qualitative study of perspectives on surgery by adult recipients of free mission-based surgical care in Benin

Jong

2019

BMJ Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore how adult patients who received free mission-based elective surgery experienced surgery and its outcomes, in order to provide recommendations for improved service delivery, measurement of impact and future quality initiatives for the humanitarian organisation Mercy Ships and other mission-based surgical platforms.SettingData were collected in June 2017 in Cotonou, Benin, where the participants had previously received free mission-based elective surgery aboard the Africa Mercy, a non-governmental hospital ship.ParticipantsSixteen patients (seven male, nine female, age range 22–71, mean age 43.25) who had previously received surgical care aboard the Africa Mercy hospital ship between September 2016 and May 2017 participated in the study.MethodsUsing a qualitative design, 16 individual semistructured interviews were conducted with the assistance of two interpreters. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling from the Mercy Ships patient database. Interview data were coded and organised into themes and subthemes using thematic content analysis in an interpretivist approach.FindingsAnalysis of interview data revealed three main themes: barriers to surgery, experiences with Mercy Ships and changes in perspectives of surgery after their experiences. Key findings included barriers to local surgical provision such as cost, a noteworthy amount of fear and distrust of local surgical teams, exceptional positive experiences with the care at Mercy Ships, and impactful surgery, resulting in high levels of trust in foreign surgical teams.ConclusionsWhile foreign surgical teams are meeting an immediate need for surgical care, the potential enduring legacy is one of trusting only foreigners for surgery. Patients are a critical component to a well-functioning surgical system, and mission-based surgical providers must formulate strategies to mitigate this legacy while strengthening the local surgical system.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Lasting impact: a qualitative study of perspectives on surgery by adult recipients of free mission-based surgical care in Benin

Jong

2019

BMJ Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While noting the importance of the “small drops of humanity” (tone of voice, vocabulary, smiles) for which many patients expressed gratitude, the author notes the ambiguity of the politics of gratitude in that it simultaneously enacts affirmations and denunciations of the status quo. Similarly, Roche et al (2018) found that explicit, unprompted gratitude was expressed by nearly all the aid recipients they interviewed in Guatemala. In common with Nouvet (2016) , the authors hypothesize that foreign visiting medical teams may unwittingly contribute to inequalities by making ongoing access to benefits contingent on appropriate display of “grateful postures” and that recipients of aid may be construed as failing to successfully navigate and pay within formal health structures.…”

Section: Main Findingsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Gratitude in Health Care: A Meta-narrative Review

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research into gratitude as a significant sociological and psychological phenomenon has proliferated in the past two decades. However, there is little consensus on how it should be conceptualized or investigated empirically. We present a meta-narrative review that focuses on gratitude in health care, with an emphasis on research exploring interpersonal experiences in the context of care provision. Six meta-narratives from literatures across the humanities, sciences, and medicine are identified, contextualized, and discussed: gratitude as social capital; gifts; care ethics; benefits of gratitude; gratitude and staff well-being; and gratitude as an indicator of quality of care. Meta-narrative review was a valuable framework for making sense of theoretical antecedents and findings in this developing area of research. We conclude that greater attention needs to be given to what constitutes “evidence” in gratitude research and call for qualitative studies to better understand and shape the role and implications of gratitude in health care.

show abstract

Short-term surgical trips: local collaboration and its effects on complications and patient satisfaction

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Freedom of choice, expressions of gratitude: Patient experiences of short-term surgical missions in Guatemala

Cited by 15 publications

References 29 publications

Lasting impact: a qualitative study of perspectives on surgery by adult recipients of free mission-based surgical care in Benin

Lasting impact: a qualitative study of perspectives on surgery by adult recipients of free mission-based surgical care in Benin

Gratitude in Health Care: A Meta-narrative Review

Short-term surgical trips: local collaboration and its effects on complications and patient satisfaction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About