Gareth+-+Memo+-+20

__Memo 20: Hierarchy of Questions__

Current Snapshot of my Research questions focus on four central topics, defining Good medicine/care; the universality of medical practice which can be seen as part of that definition; why medical tourism has grown to be considered reputable and why its instantiations in some sites have been successful; and how these ideas of MT as good care translate to differences in quality of care for various groups. What is determinant of “good medicine”? What defines “care”? How do patient, doctor, and policy definitions of good care differ? How does MT effect the culture and ideals of care in countries that promote it?

How do differences in medical practice become invisible in the overall picture of medicine as universal? How do medical practices differ in different sites? How do people make decisions about where to receive treatment? Is this decision predominantly one of cost? How does “Biomedicalization” [Clarke et al.] play out in multiple contexts with different histories of healthcare and colonialism? How does neoliberalism and privatization change healthcare practice?

What constitutes Medical tourism, and influences its growth in some sites? How does medical culture influence the growth of private healthcare? How does broader political culture influence the growth of private healthcare? How does Tourism industry, and international perception of a country influence growth of private healthcare?

What is the experience of healthcare seekers in and around medical tourism? Does MT diminish or increase access to healthcare of travelers? How do Tourists perceive the hosting nation and healthcare providers? Does MT increase or diminish access to healthcare to locals?

In a Previous version I divided my research questions as an investigation into three spheres looking to define them:

I. Epistemological attitudes on medical tourism: 1. Are there differences in discourse surrounding different forms of MT? 2. What is the relationship between ideas of choice and healthcare discourses on MT? 3. Why do some forms of biomedicine lend themselves to MT better than others?

II. Lived effects: 1. Practice: Does MT influence the practices and protocols of medicine, and if so, in what way? 2. Economic: How does MT affect domestic healthcare markets in participating nations? 3. Experiential: How has the linking of tourism infrastructures with fields of life traditionally local changed the experience of those participating?

III. Political Constructs 1. How do local political spheres influence formation of transnational network/industry? 2. How has, and should, international cooperation and certification be developed? 3. What factors determine why certain national governments officially regulate MT while others don’t? 4. What factors shape how transnational policy and regulatory bodies form in light of global health crises?

In an even older version I simply listed research questions as below:

What is Medical Tourism? Who is using Medical Tourism as part of their healthcare repertoire? Why? What are the limits and constituants of the medical tourism industry/assemblage? What Policies and regulations actually apply? Nationally in the US? Internationally? Who should/does govern international technical systems? Is lack of US domestic regulation and policy response representative of lag? Oversight? or choice? What is the effect of medical tourism on actors and implicated groups? Patients? Destination populations? US Healthcare seekers in general? What is the relationship of medical tourism to healthcare access and policy in the US in general? In other countries? What is the relationship of ideas of ‘Choice’ (autonomy, liberalism, individualism) and medical/healthcare discourse surrounding medical tourism, and the reasons it is chosen? How has the linking of increasing transnational travel for healthcare to a preexisting system of ideas and infrastructures associated with “tourism” pushed the development and regulation of this phenomenon in specific directions? Why have some forms of biomedicine been included and not others? How has cutting edge technoscientific-medicine( such as biotech and genetic disease treatment research) not been included in the discourse of tourism? Why has more “scientific” arenas not been included? Does medical tourism influence how medicine is practiced in destination countries in general? How? What technologies, protocols and practices are more or less common? Can this phenomenon be used as an avenue to examine preexisting, and new, difference in forms of medical practices between sites?