O3234: Developing a Pediatric Humanitarian Health Consortium: A SWOT Analysis of Key Stakeholders in Pediatric Humanitarian Care Delivery

Background: Over 400 million children worldwide are growing up affected by war, famine, and climate hazards. In these environments, access to quality child health is severely constrained, a situation exacerbated by the limited pediatric humanitarian health workforce. The concept of a Pediatric Humanitarian Health Consortium (PHHC) was proposed to serve as a nexus between pediatric workforce at academic children’s hospitals and organizations in the humanitarian sector. The PHHC would create a central hub for programmatic engagement requested by local humanitarian actors, then connect these priority needs with the resources and expertise available at participating children’s hospitals. The objectives of this study were (1) to understand the challenges and needs of key humanitarian actors in supporting pediatric programming during humanitarian responses, (2) to explore the current engagement and interest of children’s hospitals to work in the humanitarian sector, and (3) to refine a humanitarian intervention model that categorizes interventions by need and resource intensity required.

Methods: Children’s hospitals and humanitarian organizations were contacted to elicit their participation, and snowball survey methodology was used to identify additional participants. Exploratory key informant interviews were completed with leadership from 17 children’s hospitals, 2 professional pediatric associations, and 13 humanitarian organizations. Interviews with children’s hospitals focused on the challenges and opportunities for pediatrics in the humanitarian sector as well as interest in future engagement in humanitarian work. Interviews with humanitarian actors focused on the challenges, current programs, and future needs of their organizations to support pediatric programs. Results were analyzed for recurring themes.

Results: A universal theme from both children’s hospitals and humanitarian actors was the need for a PHHC. Themes identified in children’s hospitals interviews included interest in a central administrative and organizational hub to overcome institutional and logistical challenges that impede engagement in humanitarian work. Humanitarian organizations identified an immediate need for pediatric expertise, but difficulty in sourcing pediatric programmatic and technical support. A central consortium was highlighted as an ideal model to facilitate trusted and ongoing pediatric partnership. A Pediatric Humanitarian Intervention Approach (Figure 1) was developed that meet humanitarian partners’ needs. Progression up the triangle of interventions represents higher resource intensity that would require higher investments from all parties.

Conclusion: Based on global key informants, children's hospitals and humanitarian leaders from around the world have strong enthusiasm, commitment, and willingness to participate in the development and implementation of a PHHC. This initiative would be a unique opportunity to build long-term global partnerships to improve the health of children in humanitarian contexts worldwide.