Marcia Grand Ortega
CMMB (Catholic Medical Mission Board Inc.), New York, USA
Abstract Title: Measuring Global Health Volunteers’ Adherence to Ethical Guidelines for Service
Biography: Marcia Grand Ortega is a global health program manager with over 15 years of international experience across academic, nonprofit, and private sectors. She holds an MA in Public Health and a BA in Psychology and Sociology, and has conducted research with the University of New South Wales’ School of Public Health and Community Medicine and within CMMB. Her work spans environmental health, Indigenous health, and ethical global health programming and has worked in Australia, Latin America, Africa and the Pacific. At CMMB, she leads global volunteer initiatives, strengthening health systems through equitable partnerships and locally led development.
Research Interest: International volunteerism continues to play a visible role in global health, even as formal cross?border engagement has become more constrained in the post?pandemic period. Persistent ethical concerns—limited sustainability, misaligned priorities, inadequate cultural preparation, and risks to local systems—continue to challenge the equity and effectiveness of global health volunteering. Measurement remains fragmented, with no standardized mechanism for in?country supervisors to assess adherence to ethical best practices. The Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), a global health NGO deploying approximately 100 clinical and non?clinical volunteers annually across eight countries, aims to promote sustainable, context?driven health system strengthening. To address the issues around ethical volunteerism, the NYU Applied Global Public Health Initiative Lab partnered with CMMB to develop a standardized online evaluation tool for host?country supervisors. The tool assesses adherence to six ethical principles defined by the Advocacy for Global Health Partnerships and is administered within two weeks of service completion. It includes ten Likert?scale items and open?ended questions grounded in Global South perspectives and validated by subject?matter experts. Preliminary data show high performance in interpersonal conduct, particularly respect toward colleagues (mean: 4.88/5). Lower scores were observed in contributions to long?term organizational strengthening (4.34/5). The overall mean rating across domains was 4.41/5. These findings indicate a need to enhance pre?departure preparation, especially in areas related to sustainability and capacity?building. This tool offers a replicable approach for global health organizations seeking to promote ethical, accountable, and mutually beneficial volunteer engagement while supporting stronger, more resilient local health systems.