250767 Mobile Health Workforce: Perspectives on Human Resource Challenges & Global Health

Monday, October 31, 2011: 2:30 PM

Hannah Spector, MPH , Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC
Elly Arnoff, MPH , Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC
Subasri Narasimhan, MPH , Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC
Mobile health professionals studying at the UNC Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health explore the reasons why healthcare workers migrate from less developed countries to more developed countries.The film defines the concepts of "brain drain", "brain exchange" and “brain waste”. The documentary identifies migration trends and highlights the global shortages of healthcare workers, which is most pronounced in less developed nations where limited infrastructure and diseases like HIV/AIDS coalesce to produce healthcare systems that struggle to meet the basic needs of their populations. It also discusses key factors affecting migration, as well as explores tensions between the human right to health and the human rights to free choice of employment and freedom of movement. The film concludes with discussion of potential retention strategies.

Learning Areas:
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
1)Define the terms “brain exchange”, “brain waste” and “brain drain”. 2)Explain the "push factors" and "pull factors" fueling mass migration of health professionals from less developed countries to more developed countries. 3)Analyze the ethical and human rights issues that shape discussions on the mobile health professional workforce and brain drain. 4)Identify policy strategies to address global human resources concerns.

Keywords: Health Care Workers, Human Rights

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I contributed research that informed the piece, and I co-produced the film.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: International Health Films Session 2
See more of: APHA-Film Festival