In this review article, the authors contextualize the contemporary practice of medical tourism in terms of the concept of worldmaking, which was introduced (in this journal) with two articles a year or two ago by Hollinshead. Here, the authors first contextualize medical tourism in terms of "worldmaking" per medium of the observations of the corporeal realms identified by Alexis de Tocqueville almost 200 years ago. In 1835, de Tocqueville wrote with enthusiasm tinged with nostalgic regret about the new world of American democracy that he then saw as the world of the future. A serious rupture in history took place of which he became a most relevant critic. But there have been (according to Mainil, Platenkamp, and Meulemans) many ruptures since then: that is, there have been short periods of "in-between worlds" that became ever more anchored in the timeline of Western history. Today, they argue that tourism as a field of expertise, practice, and knowledge is intertwined with several other networks of expertise. It is responsible (itself) for many small "ruptures" in these modern times. Mass tourism can be seen as such a shift. Sustainable tourism and the attention paid to climate change would be another such shift. And the authors of this review argue that an interesting and deep-seated case in this regard is medical tourism. They argue here that medical tourism has a great deal of worldmaking capacity, especially by means of the Internet and international marketing tools. It arises in the interstices of the interacting networks of a global world. It crosses borders in line with emerging power structures in a global network, but it also meets local resistance or regional obstacles that are related to other networks. In between these worlds of human experience, various interactions of perspectives on the concept of health itself come to the surface. Within the field of medical tourism different stakeholders play a role in a worldmaking process. Our reviewers from the Low Countries thereby argue that medical tourism itself is responsible for a Tocquevillean rupture within and across our global network society. In their view, medical tourism also constitutes a new hybrid-that is, as a hybrid medical paradigm that seems to be appearing within the performative and productive world of tourism.
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This paper analyzes connectivity and efficiency of a SME network across two industries. These characteristics are likely to be different for networks of various industries. The concept of 'small worlds' is used to judge overall network efficiency. The actual network can be classified as one in which a small world is present. Visualization of the results shows a single core group in the network. It was found that non-profit as well as science actors were overrepresented in the core of the field.
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This paper describes a project to explore the possibilities of virtual worlds in educating Green IT. In the project a virtual world has been created with various assignments which are meant to create awareness on sustainability aspects of IT. The world (and the assignments) will be incorporated in a course for first-year IT students. In order to measure the effects of the course, a questionnaire has been developed which can be used before and after the course to measure the attitude towards green IT.
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Societal developments show that future demands for visualization can be expected to grow. In many areas of organized human activities organizations may turn away from textual and numerical flatlands, and rely on the convenient and multidimensional digital worlds. Virtual worlds for facility management, design, and planning are no exception, it has an enormous potential to help organizations finding the right spaces that fit the human activities they perform. However, a major take-up of virtual worlds in this context allowing a comparison between present and future, is yet to come. Perhaps such applications, interweaving virtual and real worlds in order to design better facilities are at its beginning stages. One thing is clear: sophisticated applications may have remained absent until today, but it will come to us. Digital worlds start to normalize and the design of organizational spaces can benefit from that development. In this current article the effects of the proposed integrationof visualization with facilities were studied in a case study design. It was assessed whether the participants would actually change the design, without data on the organizational performance, and to what extent this affected staff satisfaction. This study however showed no design changes and no statistically significant changes in the affective responses ofparticipants between pre-test and post-test stages. However, in this current case the sample size may have been too small for generalization purposes. The connection of virtualworlds with organizational data, which were not applied in this current case but were in fact applied in our earlier studies, may be vital for the efficacy of interactive facility management, design, and planning. It is concluded that data on organizational performance serve as a linking pin between facility management and virtual worlds. Interaction can thus be improved by using organizational data as ‘subtitles’ which stimulate a more active use of the visualization.
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Within paediatric palliative care, it is essential for families and providers to have open, equal, and trusting relationships. In practice, however, building relationships can be challenging. Investing in better understanding the differences in each other's frames of reference and underlying values seems important. Wonder Lab practices provide a space to explore these differences by focusing together on life phenomena in curious and Socratic ways. Wonder Labs were organised with parents, healthcare professionals, and students involved in Dutch paediatric palliative care. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of how participants experienced participating in Wonder Labs. We conducted twenty in-depth interviews with Wonder Lab participants and used inductive thematic analysis for data interpretation. Five themes were identified: Slowing down, Appreciating stories, Becoming vulnerable, Opening up and diving in, and Reframing perspectives. Participating in Wonder Labs allowed mothers, healthcare professionals, and students to contribute to deepening experiences and gain an expanded understanding of what is at play in caring for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. Through working in pluralised groups, frames of reference and understandings complemented each other and could change. Participants often adopted a more open attitude towards others involved in care after participating and adapted day-to-day practices. Deliberating within paediatric palliative care on sensitive issues and their underlying personal and professional beliefs and values must be part of working together, without specific care situations being the catalyst. This may foster the mutual understanding needed in searching for quality of life, death, and bereavement.
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Within the context of the information society, access to computers and the internet has been considered to be a new fault line in social exclusion. This has resulted in numerous initiatives on e-inclusion. There is however a second development, that of evidence-based practice, the approach that wants results of effectiveness studies to be an important inspiration for practice. Where these developments intersect, we find the issue of whether e-inclusion interventions are effective, of whether they reach their aim. It is common to label projects as "good practice", but do we have an assessment framework to justify using labels such as "good" or "best"? Does providing excluded citizens with access to computers and internet indeed help them to become socially included? And can we distinguish different types of initiatives and assess them according to their effectiveness?
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Design and research are two fields of knowledge that each has its traditions, methods, standards and practices. These two worlds appear to be quite separate, with researchers investigating what exists, and designers visualising what could be. This book builds a bridge between both worlds by showing how design and research can be integrated to develop a new field of knowledge. This book contains 22 inspiring reflections that demonstrate how the unique qualities of research (aimed at studying the present) and design (aimed at developing the future) can be combined. This book shows that the transdisciplinary approach is applicable in a multitude of sectors, ranging from healthcare, urban planning, circular economy, and the food industry. Arranged in five parts, the book offers a range of illustrative examples, experiences, methods, and interpretations. Together they make up the characteristic of a mosaic, each piece contributing a part of the complete picture, and all pieces together offering a multi-facted perspective of what applied design research is, how it is implemented and what the reader can expect from it.
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This commentary summarizes the conference held in Bethlehem from 30 April-1 May 2010 entitled 'Sumud and the Wall Conference'. It further explores the relationship between the (colonization of) life worlds of the Palestinian people and the tensions between life worlds and political systems. Finally it moves on to link the relevance of this to tourism and tourism development in Palestine.
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