IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v11y2021i2p21582440211013792.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health and Wellness–Related Travel: A Scoping Study of the Literature in 2010-2018

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Kemppainen
  • Veera Koskinen
  • Harley Bergroth
  • Eetu Marttila
  • Teemu Kemppainen

Abstract

Health and wellness–related travel, also known as medical tourism, is a topical phenomenon with a wide range of effects in both local and transnational contexts. This scoping study examines the literature on this phenomenon from the perspective of travelers. The literature search was conducted using three databases (EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and SCOPUS) and covered the period from 2010 to 2018. The results show that the literature is divided into two academic fields: social sciences and tourism. Travel from the Global North to the Global South still dominates the field of medical travel research, and studies on South-to-South or intra-regional travel are underrepresented. There is a need for a more in-depth qualitative understanding of travelers’ lived experiences and for studies with more advanced quantitative methods and longitudinal research designs. We call for more interdisciplinary and theoretical approaches to health and wellness–related travel and propose a conceptual model that considers travelers’ intent (medical/wellness) and status (patient/tourist).

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Kemppainen & Veera Koskinen & Harley Bergroth & Eetu Marttila & Teemu Kemppainen, 2021. "Health and Wellness–Related Travel: A Scoping Study of the Literature in 2010-2018," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:11:y:2021:i:2:p:21582440211013792
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440211013792
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440211013792
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440211013792?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jang, Sou Hyun, 2016. "First-generation Korean immigrants’ barriers to healthcare and their coping strategies in the US," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 93-100.
    2. Villa-Torres, Laura & González-Vázquez, Tonatiuh & Fleming, Paul J. & González-González, Edgar Leonel & Infante-Xibille, César & Chavez, Rebecca & Barrington, Clare, 2017. "Transnationalism and health: A systematic literature review on the use of transnationalism in the study of the health practices and behaviors of migrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 70-79.
    3. Zhang, Jun & Seo, Sangyun & Lee, Hoonyoung, 2013. "The impact of psychological distance on Chinese customers when selecting an international healthcare service country," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 32-40.
    4. Anna Arvidsson & Sara Johnsdotter & Birgitta Essén, 2015. "Views of Swedish Commissioning Parents Relating to the Exploitation Discourse in Using Transnational Surrogacy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Bochaton, Audrey, 2015. "Cross-border mobility and social networks: Laotians seeking medical treatment along the Thai border," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 364-373.
    6. Loick Menvielle & William Menvielle & Nadine Tournois, 2014. "Purchasing behavior of consumers for foreign medical services," Post-Print hal-02100656, HAL.
    7. Susan Frohlick, 2020. "Reproductive vibes: therapeutic atmospheres and the reproductive force of tourism mobilities," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 120-134, March.
    8. Soonae Hwang & DonHee Lee & Chang-Yuil Kang, 2018. "Medical tourism: focusing on patients’ prior, current, and post experience," International Journal of Quality Innovation, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, December.
    9. Nay Lynn Yin, 2014. "Decision Factors in Medical Tourism: Evidence from Burmese Visitors to a Hospital in Bangkok," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 6(2), pages 84-94.
    10. Muhammad Ali & Anita Medhekar, 2018. "Healthcare Quality of Bangladesh and Outbound Medical Travel to Thailand," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(2), pages 575-588.
    11. Yu, Ji Yun & Ko, Tae Gyou, 2012. "A cross-cultural study of perceptions of medical tourism among Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists in Korea," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 80-88.
    12. Salman Majeed & Changbao Lu & Mahwash Majeed & Muahmmad Naeem Shahid, 2018. "Health Resorts and Multi-Textured Perceptions of International Health Tourists," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-26, April.
    13. Audrey Bochaton, 2019. "Intertwined therapeutic mobilities: knowledge, plants, healers on the move between Laos and the U.S," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 54-70, January.
    14. Tricia J. Johnson & Andrew N. Garman, 2015. "Demand for International Medical Travel to the USA," Tourism Economics, , vol. 21(5), pages 1061-1077, October.
    15. Van Hoof, Wannes & Pennings, Guido & De Sutter, Petra, 2015. "Cross-border reproductive care for law evasion: A qualitative study into the experiences and moral perspectives of French women who go to Belgium for treatment with donor sperm," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 391-397.
    16. Verra, Sanne Elise & Kroeze, Renske & Ruggeri, Kai, 2016. "Facilitating safe and successful cross-border healthcare in the European Union," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 718-727.
    17. Holliday, Ruth & Bell, David & Cheung, Olive & Jones, Meredith & Probyn, Elspeth, 2015. "Brief encounters: Assembling cosmetic surgery tourism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 298-304.
    18. Connell, John, 2013. "Contemporary medical tourism: Conceptualisation, culture and commodification," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-13.
    19. Huang, Liyuan & Xu, Honggang, 2018. "Therapeutic landscapes and longevity: Wellness tourism in Bama," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 24-32.
    20. Prajitmutita, Lyn Manassannan & Perényi, à ron & Prentice, Catherine, 2016. "Quality, Value? – Insights into Medical Tourists’ Attitudes and Behaviors," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 207-216.
    21. Stan, Sabina, 2015. "Transnational healthcare practices of Romanian migrants in Ireland: Inequalities of access and the privatisation of healthcare services in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 346-355.
    22. Hanefeld, J. & Lunt, N. & Smith, R. & Horsfall, D., 2015. "Why do medical tourists travel to where they do? The role of networks in determining medical travel," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 356-363.
    23. Wang, Lu & Kwak, Min-Jung, 2015. "Immigration, barriers to healthcare and transnational ties: A case study of South Korean immigrants in Toronto, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 340-348.
    24. Laugesen, Miriam J. & Vargas-Bustamante, Arturo, 2010. "A patient mobility framework that travels: European and United States-Mexican comparisons," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(2-3), pages 225-231, October.
    25. Heidi Kaspar & Margaret Walton-Roberts & Audrey Bochaton, 2019. "Therapeutic mobilities," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, January.
    26. Horton, Sarah & Cole, Stephanie, 2011. "Medical returns: Seeking health care in Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1846-1852, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jorge Ridderstaat, 2023. "Measuring hidden demand and price behavior from US outbound health tourism spending," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(3), pages 759-787, May.
    2. Jun Lee & Jeong-Joon Kim, 2023. "A Study on Market Segmentation According to Wellness Tourism Motivation and Differences in Behavior between the Groups—Focusing on Satisfaction, Behavioral Intention, and Flow," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-22, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Salman Majeed & Zhimin Zhou & Haywantee Ramkissoon, 2020. "Beauty and Elegance: Value Co-Creation in Cosmetic Surgery Tourism," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    2. Xinyan Shi & Lydia Gan, 2023. "Equilibrium in Competitive Insurance Markets with Medical Tourism," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 11(2), pages 246-269, August.
    3. Connell, John, 2013. "Contemporary medical tourism: Conceptualisation, culture and commodification," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Kelleher, Dan & Doherty, Edel & O'Neill, Ciaran, 2022. "Examining the transnational preventive healthcare utilisation of a group of Eastern European migrants living full-time in another European state," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(4), pages 318-324.
    5. Elena Pessot & Daniele Spoladore & Andrea Zangiacomi & Marco Sacco, 2021. "Natural Resources in Health Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Denita Cepiku & Benedetta Marchese & Federico Spandonaro, 2019. "La mobilit? transfrontaliera dei pazienti: un?analisi del fenomeno in Italia," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(112), pages 61-82.
    7. Moghavvemi, Sedigheh & Ormond, Meghann & Musa, Ghazali & Mohamed Isa, Che Ruhana & Thirumoorthi, Thinaranjeney & Bin Mustapha, Mohd Zulkhairi & Kanapathy, Kanagi A./P. & Chiremel Chandy, Jacob John, 2017. "Connecting with prospective medical tourists online: A cross-sectional analysis of private hospital websites promoting medical tourism in India, Malaysia and Thailand," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 154-163.
    8. Mohammad Jamal Khan & Firoz Khan & Saba Amin & Shankar Chelliah, 2020. "Perceived Risks, Travel Constraints, and Destination Perception: A Study on Sub-Saharan African Medical Travellers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, April.
    9. Divya Chaudhry, 2022. "Is Medical Tourism Really Unethical? An Alternate Perspective for Developing Countries," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 7(2), pages 145-157, July.
    10. Franchina, Loreley & Sarradon-Eck, Aline & Arnault, Yolande & Le Corroller, Anne-Gaëlle & Zunic, Patricia & Marino, Patricia, 2022. "Lived experience of State-sponsored intra-national overseas therapeutic mobility for stem cell transplantation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    11. Ruggeri, Kai & Ivanović, Nevena & Razum, Josip & Kácha, Ondřej & Menezes, Igor G. & Zafari, Zafar & Garcia-Garzon, Eduardo, 2018. "An evidence-based policy for improving choice in global health access through medical travel," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(12), pages 1372-1376.
    12. Dangor Faheem & Hoogendoorn Gijsbert & Moolla Raeesa, 2015. "Medical tourism by Indian-South Africans to India: an exploratory investigation," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 29(29), pages 19-30, September.
    13. Ricardo Pagan & Daniel Horsfall, 2020. "Medical Tourism Markets: Models of Sustainability. The Case of Spain and The Costa del Sol (Malaga)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-17, October.
    14. Villa-Torres, Laura & González-Vázquez, Tonatiuh & Fleming, Paul J. & González-González, Edgar Leonel & Infante-Xibille, César & Chavez, Rebecca & Barrington, Clare, 2017. "Transnationalism and health: A systematic literature review on the use of transnationalism in the study of the health practices and behaviors of migrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 70-79.
    15. Khoa Nguyen Duc & Nhu Y Dang Thi, 2020. "Economic Motives and Problems of Health Tourism in Asia Pacific," Czech Journal of Tourism, Sciendo, vol. 9(1), pages 22-40, December.
    16. Park, Hyanggi, 2022. "Can imaginary mobilities be conducive to mental health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    17. Loh, Chung-Ping A. & Triplett, Russell E., 2019. "International accreditation, linguistic proximity and trade in medical services," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    18. Jiang, Lei & Wu, Huazhang & Song, Yang, 2022. "Diversified demand for health tourism matters: From a perspective of the intra-industry trade," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    19. Masoud lajevardi, 2016. "A Comprehensive Perspective On Medical Tourism Context And Create A Conceptual Framework," Tourism Research Institute, Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 14(1), pages 101-134, October.
    20. Bochaton, Audrey, 2015. "Cross-border mobility and social networks: Laotians seeking medical treatment along the Thai border," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 364-373.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:11:y:2021:i:2:p:21582440211013792. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.