Learning from Death: Health Education Considerations for Medical Tourists, Caregiving Companions, and Medical Tourism Providers

Abstract

Medical tourism is a process in which a consumer travels from one’s health jurisdiction to receive biomedical treatments or services, thus becoming a patient. This chapter explores how global media frame cases of patient death associated with the medical tourism (MT) process between 2009-2019. A qualitative content analysis of 50 patient mortality cases found that (1) a majority of media representations of medical tourism patient death are of middle-class, minority females between 25-55 years of age seeking cosmetic surgery internationally; (2) sudden death, grief, and bereavement counseling is noticeably absent from medical tourism providers (MTPs); and (3) the acknowledgement of medical risks from authority figures within the media reports is often vague and abstract. Recommendations and considerations for future medical tourists, their caregiving companions and medical tourism providers are offered.