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ETHICS | HEALTH | RECRUITMENT
Social ethics of global health recruitment
The shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare sector in Germany and other OECD countries has led to an increased use and reliance on healthcare professionals from abroad, who are recruited in particular from countries in the Global South. However, this political practice raises a whole series of social ethical questions:
However, such a political practice raises a whole series of socio-ethical questions:
Recruitment perspective
What ethical obligations do healthcare providers have toward the recruited professionals and the patients they care for in their facilities? How can they fulfill these obligations? What responsibility do recruiting countries have for good healthcare in the countries of origin? On what basis have gender-specific recruitment practices developed in the care sector ?How do they relate to demands for gender equality?
Perspective of the countries of origin
Do the consequences of these recruitment policies undermine the sustainable development of health systems in the sending countries (keywords: brain drain, care drain) and even jeopardize the right to health of the people living there? How can the sending societies deal with conflicts between legitimate interests of individuals and collectives?Who bears what responsibility here? brain drain , Care Drain ) and do they even endanger the right to health of the people living there? How can societies of origin deal with conflicts between legitimate individual and collective interests and who bears what responsibility here?
International perspective
Are international regulatory bodies such as the WHO fulfilling their tasks and self-commitments? What principles should their control regimes be based on? What role do post-colonial structures play, and how do national and international debates on migration and racism affect them?
Bringing perspectives together and enabling multidimensional assessments
The DFG-funded research project in Christian social ethics (2025–2028) addresses these mainly seperately debated issues in a contextualized manner. The project develops a socioethical concept that includes ethical criteria for international recruitment practices, their state regulation, and their design by private actors, enabling an integrated, multidimensional assessment of this global social ethics problem. To this end, three subprojects are being carried out at different locations and their results are being brought together.
These examine the social ethical challenges at the level of global regulation (Research unit „Social Ethics in Health Care" | Goethe- University Frankfurt), from the perspective of a country of origin (Mexico, Chair of Christian Social Teaching | Faculty of Theology, Paderborn) and from the perspective of a host country (Germany, Nell-Breuning Institute | Phil.-Theol. College of Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt). On this basis, the project will ultimately develop scientifically sound recommendations for action for national and international policy makers and for recruiting institutions in the health and social sectors. Office for Social Ethics in Health Care | Goethe University Frankfurt) , from the perspective of a country of origin (Mexico, Chair of Christian Social Doctrine | T Faculty of Heology Paderborn ) and from the perspective of a host country (Germany, Nell-Breuning Institute | Phil.-Theol. Hochschule Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt ). On this basis, the project will finally develop scientifically sound recommendations for action for national and international political actors and for recruiting institutions in the health and social sector.
Updates
Contact
General (press) inquiries
Heike Probst
Press/Public Relations Officer
Faculty of Theology Paderborn
Phone: +49 5251 121-720
E-mail: h.probst@thf-paderborn.de
Mobile: +49 176 56964717
Enquiries on specific specialist topics
The entire list of the team with the corresponding responsibilities of the specialist areas can be found here: