What makes global healthcare partnerships successful? A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Academic communities are increasingly involved in efforts to address the overwhelming burden of disease in low-middle income countries. There is, however, little research dedicated to understanding the best approach to creating a successful and sustainable global healthcare project. Our objective was to review the shared characteristics of successful healthcare partnerships between high- and low-middle income countries. Two independent reviewers conducted a systematic review. Articles, describing collaborative, healthcare partnerships between a high- and low-middle income countries between 1910 and September 2018, were included. Twenty-six articles were included. The majority of collaborations were initiated by either the host institution or as a joint decision between institutions. The primary goal of these collaborations revolved around medical education/training and curriculum development. Two partnerships, after more than a decade of collaboration, had achieved a self-sustaining programme. Lack of funding was identified as a major barrier to sustainability. Successful global healthcare partnerships require true collaboration and equal participation of all partners. Funding should be secured prior to programme development in anticipation of a minimum 10-year project. A minimum list of guidelines has been proposed to improve the chances of both a successful and sustainable collaboration.

KEYWORDS:

• Healthcare partnership
• global health
• academic collaboration
• sustainable partnership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

RG, AM, and AS conceived the study; RG and AM designed the study protocol; RG, AM, and AS carried out the analysis and interpretation of these data. RG and AM drafted the manuscript. All authors critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content and read and approved the final manuscript. All authors are guarantors of the paper.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.