title: Global Forum: Spine Research and Training in Underserved, Low and Middle-Income, Culturally Unique Communities: The World Spine Care Charity Research Program's Challenges and Facilitators.
abstract: The World Spine Care (WSC), established by volunteers from 5 continents, is dedicated to providing sustainable, evidence-based spine care to individuals and communities in low and middle-income countries consistent with available health-care resources and integrated within the local culture. The research committee approves and oversees the WSC's collaborative research and training projects worldwide and serves to create a sustainable research community for underserved populations focused on preventing disability from spinal disorders. The purpose of this article is to describe 4 projects overseen by the WSC research committee and to discuss several challenges and specific facilitators that allowed successful completion of initiatives. These novel projects, which involved establishing spine surgery expertise and data collection in the WSC clinics and surrounding communities, all met their aims. This was achieved by overcoming language and resource challenges, adapting to local customs, and taking time to build mutual respect and to nurture relationships with local investigators and stakeholders.
authors.affiliation: 1World Spine Care, Santa Ana, California 2Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Environmental Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 3Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark 4Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5Graduate Education and Research, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 6Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Oshawa, Ontario, Canada 7UOIT-CMCC Centre for the Study of Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 8World Spine Care, Moca, Dominican Republic 9Ankara ARTES Spine Center, Ankara, Turkey 10Mahalapye District Hospital, Mahalapye, Botswana 11Department of Epidemiology, Office of Public Health Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 12Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 13Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: O'Dane
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nordin
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hondras
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Outerbridge
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kopansky-Giles
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Côté
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eberspaecher
authors.forename: Emre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Acaroğlu
authors.forename: Tiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mmopelwa
authors.forename: Eric L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hurwitz
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haldeman
mesh_terms: D002608:Charities; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000193:education*; D012106:Research; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D013131:Spine / Q000601:surgery*