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ETHICS | HEALTH | RECRUITMENT
Social ethics of global health recruitment
In Germany and other OECD countries, the shortage of skilled workers in the health sector has led to an increased recourse to health professionals from abroad, who are recruited in particular from countries in the Global South.
However, such a political practice raises a whole series of socio-ethical questions:
Recruitment perspective
What ethical obligations do health actors have for the professionals they recruit and the patients cared for in the facilities? How can they live up to them? What responsibility do recruiting countries have for good health care in the countries of origin? On what basis have gender-specific recruitment practices developed in the field of care work, and how do they relate to demands for gender equality?
Perspective of origin
Are the consequences of this recruitment policy not undermining the sustainable development of the health systems of the transferring countries (keywords: 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 voluntary commitments? What principles should be used to design their control regimes? What role do post-colonial structures play and what are the effects of national and international debates on migration and racism?
Bringing perspectives together and enabling multidimensional assessments
The DFG-funded research project on Christian Social Ethics (2025–2028) takes up these questions, which are often debated separately, in context. In the project, a socio-ethical concept is developed that includes ethical criteria for international recruitment practices, their state regulation and their design by private actors, so that an integrated, multidimensional assessment of this global socio-ethical problem becomes possible. To this end, three sub-projects will be worked on at different locations and their results will be brought together.
These examine the socio-ethical challenges at the level of global regulation ( 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: