https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.2307%2F3343168.pdf

Development as Freedom

Symposium Review: 25th Anniversary of Moral Boundaries by Joan Tronto

Background
The scoping review has become an increasingly popular approach for synthesizing research evidence. It is a relatively new approach for which a universal study definition or definitive procedure has not been established. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of scoping reviews in the literature.

Methods
A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley framework. A search was conducted in four bibliographic databases and the gray literature to identify scoping review studies. Review selection and characterization were performed by two independent reviewers using pretested forms.

Results
The search identified 344 scoping reviews published from 1999 to October 2012. The reviews varied in terms of purpose, methodology, and detail of reporting. Nearly three-quarter of reviews (74.1%) addressed a health topic. Study completion times varied from 2 weeks to 20 months, and 51% utilized a published methodological framework. Quality assessment of included studies was infrequently performed (22.38%).

Conclusions
Scoping reviews are a relatively new but increasingly common approach for mapping broad topics. Because of variability in their conduct, there is a need for their methodological standardization to ensure the utility and strength of evidence. © 2014 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jrsm.1123

A scoping review of scoping reviews: advancing the approach and enhancing the consistency

Inclusion and democracy.

Justice and the Politics of Difference

This article explores how existing health inequities in the Guatemalan health system facilitate the emergence of its medical tourism industry. We report on our thematic analysis of 50 key informant...

Medical Tourism in Guatemala: Qualitatively Exploring How Existing Health System Inequities Facilitate Sector Development.

Background When seeking care at international hospitals and clinics, medical tourists are often accompanied by family members, friends, or other caregivers Such caregiver-companions assume a variety of roles and responsibilities and typically offer physical assistance, provide emotional support, and aid in decision-making and record keeping as medical tourists navigate unfamiliar environments While traveling abroad, medical tourists’ caregiver-companions can find themselves confronted with challenging communication barriers, financial pressures, emotional strain, and unsafe environments Methods To better understand what actions and activities medical tourists’ informal caregivers can undertake to protect their health and safety, 20 interviews were conducted with Canadians who had experienced accompanying a medical tourist to an international health care facility for surgery Interview transcripts were subsequently used to identify inductive and deductive themes central to the advice research participants offered to prospective caregiver-companions Results Advice offered to future caregiver-companions spanned the following actions and activities to protect health and safety: become an informed health care consumer; assess and avoid exposure to identifiable risks; anticipate the care needs of medical tourists and thereby attempt to guard against caregiver burden; become familiar with important logistics related to travel and anticipated recovery timelines; and take practical measures to protect one’s own health Conclusion Given that a key feature of public health is to use research findings to develop interventions and policies intended to promote health and reduce risks to individuals and populations, the paper draws upon major points of advice offered by study participants to take the first steps toward the development of an informational intervention designed specifically for the health and safety needs of medical tourists’ caregiver companions While additional research is required to finalize the content and form of such an intervention, this study provides insight into what practical advice former caregiver-companions state should be shared with individuals considering assuming these roles and responsibilities in the future In addition, this research draws attention to the importance of ensuring that such an intervention is web-based and readily accessible by prospective caregiver-companions

/pdf/ensure-that-you-are-well-aware-of-the-risks-you-are-taking-3dqbfq599t.pdf

"Ensure that you are well aware of the risks you are taking…": actions and activities medical tourists' informal caregivers can undertake to protect their health and safety.

Perceptions of the Ethics of Medical Tourism by Canadian Patients: Comparing Patient and Academic Perspectives

Objectives. To understand whether and how crowdfunding campaigns are a source of COVID-19–related misinformation.Methods. We searched the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform using 172 terms associated w...

Crowdfunding Campaigns and COVID-19 Misinformation.

Background: Caribbean offshore medical schools are for-profit, private institutions that provide undergraduate medical education to primarily international students, including from the United States or Canada. Despite the growing role that offshore medical schools play in training Canadian physicians, little is known about how these institutions are perceived by those in professional and decision-making positions where graduates intend to practice. Methods: The authors interviewed 13 Canadian medical education stakeholders whose professional positions entail addressing the medical education system or physician workforce. Participants were employed in academic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations in leadership roles. Results: Thematic analysis revealed three cross-cutting perceptions of offshore medical schools: (a) they are at the bottom of an international hierarchy of medical schools; (b) they are heterogeneous in quality of education and student body; and (c) they have a unique business model, characterized by profit-generating and serving international students. Conclusion: Consistent growth of the offshore medical school industry in the Caribbean may result in adverse reputational harms for well-established offshore or regional medical schools. Both comparative (e.g., USMLE pass rate) and intuitive factors (e.g., professional familiarity) informed participants’ perceptions. Participants believed that core principles of social accountability in medical education are incompatible with the offshore medical school model.

https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cmej/article/download/42169/pdf

"They don't have the history and the stature:" examining perceptions of Caribbean offshore medical schools held by Canadian medical education stakeholders.

Jeremy Snyder

Papers

Medical Tourism in Guatemala: Qualitatively Exploring How Existing Health System Inequities Facilitate Sector Development.

"Ensure that you are well aware of the risks you are taking…": actions and activities medical tourists' informal caregivers can undertake to protect their health and safety.

Perceptions of the Ethics of Medical Tourism by Canadian Patients: Comparing Patient and Academic Perspectives

Crowdfunding Campaigns and COVID-19 Misinformation.

"They don't have the history and the stature:" examining perceptions of Caribbean offshore medical schools held by Canadian medical education stakeholders.