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This paper aims to respond to a knowledge gap regarding the motivations of medical tourists, the term used to describe persons that travel across borders with the intention of accessing medical care. Commonly cited motivations for engaging in medical tourism are typically based on speculation and provide generalizations for what is a contextualized practice. This research paper aims to complicate the commonly discussed motivations of medical tourists to provide a richer understanding of these motivations and the various contexts in which medical tourists may choose to travel for medical care.

Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 32 former Canadian medical tourists, this study uses the Iso-Ahola’s motivation theory to analyze tourists’ motivations. Quotations from participants were used to highlight core themes relevant to critical theories of tourism.

Participants’ discussions illuminated motivations to travel related to personal and interpersonal seeking as well as personal and interpersonal escaping. These motivations demonstrate the appropriateness of applying critical theories of tourism to the medical tourism industry.

This research is limited in its ability to link various motivations with particular contexts such as medical procedure and personal demographics. However, this study demonstrates that the three commonly cited motivations of medical tourists might oversimplify this phenomenon.

By providing new insight into medical tourists’ motivations, this paper expands the conversation about medical tourists’ decision-making and how this is informed by tourism discourse. This insight may contribute to improved guidance for medical tourism stakeholders for more ethical and safe practices.

In any socieity the costs of providing goods and services inevitably will have to be borne by that society. Information is no exception, in that there is a direct cost or opportunity cost of gathering and communicating data. Ultimately it is we, the general public, who have to bear this cost either in the form of taxation to support information and research activities by the authorities and its beneficiaries in receipt of grants or subsidies, or in the price we pay directly for our goods and services. The true cost of information is frequently lost or distorted through the existence of a system in which public and private sectors do not always complement each other and in fact may be in open competition.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) project in Israel. A national centre for artificial intelligence, which covers the fields of computer science, neurosciences and psychology, has been founded at the Weizmann Institute at Rehovot in Israel. The research team hopes to understand some of the facets of the human thought process and apply their results to the creation of machines which “can learn from experience”, “understand and speak a natural language”, and “assess situations”. The aim is to produce a machine with “Common sense”. Initially work will be carried out in vision capabilities (Professor Ullman), and the development of hardware and language for parallel processing. The institute will also conduct research into advanced robotics (Dr Flash) with a particular interest in manipulator kinematics and dynamics as well as trajectory planning.

Previous research has highlighted the importance of engaging people with lived experience (PWLE) in the knowledge creation process. However, diverse approaches to engagement exist. In addition, tensions remain in community-engaged research (CER), including how to address structural inequalities in research settings. This study aims to consider how CER interacts with citizenship within and beyond the research context.

This study discusses the authors’ experiences as a majority-PWLE of psychosis research team in Canada, including successes and challenges the authors experienced building their team and navigating research institutions. This study also reflects on the authors’ pathways through citizenship, prior to and during the research process. This study discusses divergent models of CER and their applicability to the cyclical process of citizenship and community participation.

Relationships between academic and peer researchers developed organically over time. However, this study was limited by structural barriers such as pay inequality and access to funding. The authors recognize that there are barriers to full citizenship and acknowledge their resources and privilege of being well supported within their communities. Team members built on a foundation of citizenship to access participation in research. This led to opportunities to engage in community spaces, and for PWLE to participate in research as partners and leaders. This study also found that citizenship is a way of giving back, by building a sense of social responsibility.

Academic and peer researchers can reflect on the authors’ experiences to build more inclusive research teams and communities by using a citizenship approach to research participation.

The objective of this paper was to systematically review published studies to determine if disability limits access to health care and to attempt to identify what body functions, structures and activities and participation, as well as contextual factors (environmental and personal factors), interact with the health condition to limit this access. The AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline and psychINFO databases were searched for original study articles in English, dating from 1974 to 2008. Review articles and expert opinion were excluded. Each study had two independent reviews by either a general practitioner or specialist in rehabilitation medicine. Each study was critically appraised according to the National Service Framework for Long‐term Conditions (Department of Health, 2005a) methodology and recorded on standardised data extraction sheets. Studies of poor quality were excluded. Sixty studies were included. No randomised controlled trials were identified. Studies broadly fell into the following three main groups: database studies (n=27), quantitative surveys (n=20) and qualitative interviews (n=13). Disabled people are restricted in accessing health care and report less satisfaction with their medical care. Many of the identified studies were from the United States (US) and based on subjective reporting. More objective evidence is needed, especially in the UK, to clarify the true level of access to health care in people with disabilities. The complex, interdependent factors in providing health care to disabled people require complex solutions.

Purpose – This study analyzes the rhetoric casting U.S. President Barack Obama in the role of betraying and undermining the nation because he seeks government policies supporting a social safety net, gay rights, abortion rights, and other progressive agendas.

Methodology/Approach – The analysis is based on sociological social movement theories, especially the interrelationship of ideology, frames, and narratives in understanding how activists take their ideas and turn them in to action. The power devaluation model of Rory McVeigh is applied to the construction of reality used by right-wing anti-Obama forces, especially those linked to the various Tea Party movements.

Findings – The most militant anti-Obama ideologues construct frames and narratives based on a dualistic worldview in which Obama and liberals in general are demonized and scapegoated for existing economic, social, and political problems.

Research limitations/implications – More scholarly research using statistical analysis of the views and demographics of Tea Party supporters is needed to provide a complete picture of this new social/political movement.

Practical implications – By showing that right-wing populists are basing their beliefs on a long history of similar frames and narratives, this study can help prompt a more constructive response by political opponents who wrongly demonize the Tea Party supporters and their allies as ignorant or crazy.

To set the context for this edited collection by situating the discussion within both a global setting as well as examining the development and framing of processes, initiatives, policy paradigms and theoretical models which have shaped contemporary discourse and practice.

To draw on extant and current academic literature, contemporary thinking derived from policy organisations, think tanks and governmental institutions but also draw on the experience and insights provided by the contributors.

There are three core findings drawn prior to March 2022. Firstly, that the overall impact of the Global Financial Crash of 2008 and COVID-19 marks a new paradigm shift that will, more likely, shape thinking over the next decade; secondly, global attention to the climate emergency and sustainability agendas suggest that new forms of locally led responses will be necessary; and thirdly, the perceived political uncertainty of the institutions of the European Union and the USA make the stability of the policy making process and its responses to COVID-19 or the Climate Emergency much less predictable over the next 5–10 years.

This series of essays reflects the work undertaken by each of those contributing to the collection. Each author was invited to start with their primary research focus and to take their ideas and thinking for a ‘walk’ in order to stimulate discussion, novel thinking and different approaches to policy dilemmas.

Sponsorship is a major contributor to income in the South African sports arena, and is a critical component allowing sports unions to remain financially viable and sustainable. Sports sponsoring companies, however, have long questioned the financial returns generated from these ventures. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether financial returns of companies with sports sponsorship in South Africa are significantly different to those without. This research was conducted on Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies that sponsored sport consistently between 2000 and 2015 for a period of two years. A quantitative methodology was employed whereby share price, revenue and earnings growth were analysed, comparing firms that did not adopt strategies involving sports sponsorships to those that did.

A quantitative methodology was employed, whereby share price, revenue and earnings growth were analysed, comparing firms that did not adopt strategies involving sports sponsorships to those that did. South Africa is an emerging market and a member of the BRICS Forum ranked 14th in the sport sponsorship market globally (Sport Marketing Frontiers, 2011), becoming increasingly dominant in the global sports industry (Goldman, 2011). The population consisted of JSE-listed Main Board and alternative exchange companies that participated in any form of consistent sports sponsorship in the given time frame: 2000-2015, where the company’s share price, revenue and earnings per share (EPS) data for the period were available from the INET BFA database. The JSE is ranked 17th in terms of market capitalisation (over $1 trillion) in the world, being the largest stock exchange on the African continent with over $30bn being traded on average monthly. Multiple journals today publish research done on the JSE, for example the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Investment Analysts Journal and the South African Journal of Accounting Research. This stock exchange is 125 years old and has over 400 listed companies of which 358 are domestic (Kruger et al., 2014).

Results show that companies involved in sports sponsorship during the period analysed did not experience enhanced share price or revenue growth in excess of those companies not involved in sports sponsorship. As a whole, sports sponsoring companies did however experience greater income growth (EPS) than those companies not involved in sports sponsorship. Enhanced revenue growth was found in the consumer services sector, indicating that sport sponsorship in this sector drives brand image and recall resulting in enhanced revenues. These results though indicate that a multitude of differing objectives may exist for companies engaging with sports sponsorship, with increased sales not the singular objective. In general it is concluded that sports sponsorship is considered to achieve a broad spectrum of outcomes that are likely to contribute to increased profitability.

The relatively small size of 40 firms on the JSE in the South African sports sponsorship market is a limitation for this research. The purely quantitative approach limited the ability to gain the required level of insight into those sectors with small samples, which a qualitative study would reveal. SABMiller as example could not be analysed against its sector peers, given that it is one of the most prominent and consistent sports sponsors in South Africa across all major sporting codes. The telecommunications sector was represented entirely by companies that were involved in sports sponsorship and, hence, no in-depth comparison could be conducted within this sector. Vodacom, a major sponsor of sport in South Africa, could not be compared with its peers utilising purely financial and statistical methods. Cell C is one of the most prominent sponsors of rugby in South Africa, through its title sponsorship of the Cell C Sharks, and was not included in this study as it is not listed on the JSE. It is suggested that such companies should be included in a qualitative study approach.

The results of the Mann-Whitney U test for the consumer services and financial sectors confirm no significant difference in EPS growth for companies utilising consistent sports sponsorship as part of their marketing mix to those that do not. The consumer services sector has seen above-average revenue growth from sports sponsorship compared with its sector peers; however, the sector was unable to convert this increased revenue growth into increased profits, suggesting that the cost of sponsoring, as well as the operating costs associated with sports sponsorship, counteract any growth in revenue.

The sample of sports-sponsoring companies experienced a larger annual mean EPS growth rate of 30.6 per cent compared to the remaining JSE Main Board companies which grew EPS annually at 27.4 per cent. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test confirm a significant difference in EPS growth for companies utilising consistent sports sponsorship as part of their marketing mix. From a practical interpretive perspective, this result reveals that those companies in South Africa involved in sports sponsorship consistently attain greater than market-related profit growth. This poses some interesting points for discussion, given that revenue growth was not statistically different, which suggests that many sponsors are utilising the sponsorships for purposes other than sales growths that result in a profitable outcome. The potential range of options is large but would likely comprise the creation of stronger supplier relationships, resulting in optimised business inputs. Sponsors might be utilising sponsorships to improve corporate social status, which assists them in creating regulatory compliance, in some instances. Additionally, these sponsorships may be utilised to maintain key client relationships that provide the highest levels of profitability, and whilst this might not grow revenue through new business acquisition, it may result in higher profitability as a result of a loyal and stable customer base.

Much of the available research focusses on the sponsorship of specific sporting events and the share price impact thereof at specific occasions like the announcement, renewal and termination. Where research is conducted across a multitude of sporting events and codes, this predominantly focusses on share price performance only, with varying and somewhat inconclusive results. There is little research focussing on wider, more comprehensive sets of sponsored events and sporting codes, and that seeks to provide an understanding of financial returns for sponsoring properties. In a study of more than 50 US-based corporations it was found that, as a group, corporations which consistently invested in sports sponsorships outperformed market averages, and that those with higher sponsorship spend achieved higher returns (Jensen and Hsu, 2011). The study utilised descriptive statistics. More analysis, utilising detailed statistical analysis, is required to better understand the effects of sponsorship on the wider set of variables analysed. In this case, a five-year compound annual growth rate was calculated for stock price appreciation, total revenue, net income and EPS, and analysed descriptively with only means and standard deviation. Measurement of such variables assists with an understanding of the materialized results of sponsorship as opposed to much of the work in this field, which analyses market reactions to sponsorship announcements.

This paper aims to report on the first comprehensive, social marketing systematic review of interventions targeting illicit drug use by young adults.

A total of 3,169 papers were screened, with 20 relevant empirical studies meeting the eligibility criteria for the systematic review. These were analysed according to Andreasen’s (2002) and NSMC’s (2006) social marketing benchmarks.

The findings provide evidence regarding the efficacy of behavioural and clinical interventions targeting individuals and groups, including motivational, life skills training, cognitive behavioural therapy, comprehensive health and social risk assessments and buprenorphine treatment interventions. Further, results evidence that there is yet to be an intervention which has implemented the full marketing mix, and limited studies have used the social marketing benchmarks of exchange and competition.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and provide key recommendations outlining the potential for social marketing to support the improved uptake and efficacy of interventions. A research agenda is also put forward to direct future social marketing scholarship in the area of young adult drug interventions.