How can a Theory of Change framework be applied to short-term international volunteering?
Date
2016Author
Loiseau, B
Benedict, D
Sibbald, R
Raman, SA
Loh, LC
Dimaras, H
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Short-term international volunteering has become enormously popular among individuals from high-income countries who travel to low-income countries to offer support on initiatives often related to health and development. However, their impact on global development is questionable, particularly when volunteer skills are not matched to local needs, or when teams operate outside the local health system. Furthermore, the impact of these volunteer programs is rarely evaluated. Theory of Change is a framework for program design meant to facilitate measurable social change. We propose that a Theory of Change framework, appropriately deployed in the design and conduct of short-term international volunteerism, could help improve volunteer efforts by identifying problems and clearly defining goals, designing and implementing effective strategies, and evaluating the real impacts these have on identified concerns.
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Citation
Int Health. 2016 Sep;8(5):310-2. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihw036. Epub 2016 Sep 12.Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]
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