Publication Type Academic Article
Authors Lippa L, Cadieux M, Barthélemy E, Baticulon R, Ghotme K, Shlobin N, Piquer J, Härtl R, Lafuente J, Uche E, Young P, Copeland W, Henderson F, Sims-Williams H, Garcia R, Rosseau G, Qureshi M
Journal Neurosurgery
Volume 95
Issue 4
Pagination 728-739
Date Published 08/26/2024
ISSN 1524-4040
Keywords Capacity Building, Neurosurgery, Global Health
Abstract Global neurosurgery seeks to provide quality neurosurgical health care worldwide and faces challenges because of historical, socioeconomic, and political factors. To address the shortfall of essential neurosurgical procedures worldwide, dyads between established neurosurgical and developing centers have been established. Concerns have been raised about their effectiveness and ability to sustain capacity development. Successful partnerships involve multiple stakeholders, extended timelines, and twinning programs. This article outlines current initiatives and challenges within the neurosurgical community. This narrative review aims to provide a practical tool for colleagues embarking on clinical partnerships, the Engagements and assets, Capacity, Operative autonomy, Sustainability, and scalability (ECOSystem) of care. To create the ECOSystem of care in global neurosurgery, the authors had multiple online discussions regarding important points in the practical tool. All developed tiers were expanded based on logistics, clinical, and educational aspects. An online search was performed from August to November 2023 to highlight global neurosurgery partnerships and link them to tiers of the ECOSystem. The ECOSystem of care involves 5 tiers: Tiers 0 (foundation), 1 (essential), 2 (complexity), 3 (autonomy), and 4 (final). A nonexhaustive list of 16 neurosurgical partnerships was created and serves as a reference for using the ECOSystem. Personal experiences from the authors through their partnerships were also captured. We propose a tiered approach for capacity building that provides structured guidance for establishing neurosurgical partnerships with the ECOSystem of care. Clinical partnerships in global neurosurgery aim to build autonomy, enabling independent provision of quality healthcare services.
DOI 10.1227/neu.0000000000003129
PubMed ID 39185894
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