Hoping to Help

Hoping to Help is the first book to offer a comprehensive assessment of global health volunteering, based on research into how it currently operates, its benefits and drawbacks, and how it might be organized to contribute most effectively.

Judith N. Lasker is N.E.H. Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Lehigh University. She is coauthor of When Pregnancy Fails, In Search of Parenthood, and Equal Time, Equal Value.

Hoping to Help, by sociologist Judith N. Lasker, is a timely contribution to a growing literature that examines the unintended consequences of well-intentioned efforts to help, improve, or fix other people's problems. One of the strengths of Lasker's book is its eminent readability, teachability, and accessibility to those involved in or interested in medical volunteering abroad.

Hoping to Help makes an important contribution to studies of NGOs, civil society, philanthropy, and global health that both students and the wider volunteering community will enjoy and find easy to read.... Lasker provides prudent recommendations and guidelines for organizations and volunteers while also touching on deeper issues. Reading Hoping to Help led me to reflect on my past experience as a health volunteer and will encourage others to consider the ethics, opportunity costs, and colonialist relations of global health volunteering today.

This book is highly relevant to all healthcare professionals, particularly students considering an elective overseas, or dental professionals thinking about using a couple of weeks of annual leave to 'help others' abroad.... The publication is a triumph of social analysis and commentary, which rigorously appraises and summarises the existing body of evidence on the topic.... Overall it is a deeply compelling read that will give you plenty of food for thought, and perhaps change your plans, practice or even your life. I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

Many scholars have discussed the theory behind global aid and the various perils in its execution. Dr. Lasker, a professor at Lehigh University, delivers instead a straightforward, data-driven review of a small health-related fraction of the enterprise, aiming to answer a few basic questions: 'Do volunteers help or hurt?' she asks. 'In what ways?' It turns out these questions cannot be answered, at least not very precisely. Still, anyone contemplating a volunteer stint is likely to be interested in Dr. Lasker's results, which amount to a sort of de facto best-practices manual.

Brandon Blache-Cohen, Executive Director, Amizade Global Service-Learning:

The space where international health volunteering and good intentions collide can get very messy. Hoping to Help cleans up the mess. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in volunteering abroad in any capacity, health service or otherwise.

Eric Hartman, Kansas State University:

Hoping to Help makes a clear and new contribution. The issues Judith N. Lasker examines are increasingly pressing for universities across the United States, as the trend toward internationalization is accompanied by unexpected perverse incentives and adverse impacts such as those Lasker raises. This high-quality book will appeal beyond the global health community to study abroad, service learning, and civic engagement programs, as well as church organizations and civic groups.