Previous Personal Experience Research Articles

Il bavaglio e la parola. Note su una pièce allegorica di Alfonso Sastre

"In The Gag (1954, original title: La mordaza), Alfonso Sastre recovered the external stylistic features of a rural drama to protest against the censorship of the Franco regime which, at the time of the composition of the play, began to prohibit or oppose the staging of his dramas. Using cues taken from the crime news, mindful of the lesson by O’Neill in Desire under the Elms and refining previous personal experiences, Sastre wrote a sparse drama of unquestionable communicative efficacy, in which the situation of an entire country is evoked through the events of a family tyrannized by a father-master. The Gag opposes to the forced silence the responsible and revealing words of denunciation of a rebellious character and the confident words of its creator. He does not fail to reflect on the distortions that every winner imposes on language."

Patient understanding of diagnostic ultrasound examinations in an Australian private radiology clinic.

To determine patient understanding and expectations of ultrasound imaging and its safety, sources of examination information and levels of examination anxiety. 1070 consecutive patients presenting to a private, regional radiology practice in New South Wales, Australia between 16th May and 14th June 2019, were invited to complete a survey while waiting for their non-interventional ultrasound examination. The survey included questions on demographic characteristics, knowledge such as examination risks and safety, ultrasound expectations such as dissemination of results, sources of examination information and levels of participant anxiety. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis tests (SPSS v. 25) to determine statistical associations between participant demographic factors, knowledge, anxiety level and the main source of examination information. A total of 215/1070 (20%) patients voluntarily participated in the study. Most were female (74%, 159/215), with a median (range) age of 55 (18-92) years. Participant's median (range) score of ultrasound imaging knowledge was 3 (0-5) scored out of six and indicated uncertainty regarding the ultrasound procedure, result dissemination and ultrasound safety. Participants with previous personal experience had significantly higher levels of ultrasound imaging knowledge than those whose primary information source was their referring doctor (P=0.0005) or the internet (P=0.026). Significantly higher levels of ultrasound examination knowledge were also associated with lower self-reported levels of anxiety (P=0.002). Participants had incomplete ultrasound examination knowledge, including misconceptions regarding safety and result dissemination, some of which could be clarified by the sonographer at the beginning of the ultrasound examination.

Individual cognitive style affects flood‐risk perception and mitigation intentions

AbstractRisk perception of natural hazards has been widely studied as one of the potential determinants of people's behaviors and behavioral intentions. However, individual differences can also affect risk perception. The present work focused on the link between an individual cognitive mindset (i.e., level of holism) and flood‐risk perception. It also assessed the consequences of such a link on public and personal mitigation intentions, taking into account the sense of connection with the environment, the psychological distance from the adverse event, and the role played by previous personal experience with flooding. Our study (N = 191) showed that the individual cognitive style predicted risk perceptions and personal (for both experienced and no‐experience groups) and public (only for experienced group) mitigation intentions, through the mediation of the sense of connection with the environment and the psychological distance from the adverse event. Results are discussed in terms of their practical implications for public communication and policies about environmental hazards.

Factors Influencing University Students' Coastal Ecology and Environmental-friendly Entrepreneurship in Coastal Universities

Wang, J. and Peng, C., 2020. Factors influencing university students' coastal ecology and environmental-friendly entrepreneurship in coastal universities. In: Wan, Z. (ed.), Coordinated Sustainable Development in Coastal Areas: Environment and Economy. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 109, pp. 57–64. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The relationship between personal previous experience and willingness to start a environmental-friendly business in coastal areas is not significant (r = 0.069, p>0.05). There are significant positive correlations between regulatory system and coastal environmental-friendly protection entrepreneurial intention (r = 0.315, P < 0.01), normative system and coastal environmental-friendly entrepreneurial intention (r = 0.282, P<0.01), and cognitive system and coastal environmental-friendly entrepreneurial intention (r = 0.273, P < 0.01). Botstrap method is used to test the mediating effect in this study. The mediating effect of coastal environmental-friendly entrepreneurial self-efficacy is not significant. Measures such as policy support and awareness education should be effective to promote student's green behavior and entrepreneurship.

The role of personal tutoring in supporting the transition to university: experiences and views of widening participation sport students

Despite the large and diverse cohorts annually recruited to Higher Education sport programmes in the UK, research exploring sport students’ experiences of transitioning into university is very limited. This study was conducted in response to several years of low retention and progression rates across first year sport degree programmes at a post-92 university in the UK. Through focus groups, the study explored the role played by the personal tutor in supporting effective transition of recently enrolled first year sport students from widening participation backgrounds. Most noticeably, the main contributory factors were found to be the nurturing of social integration and use of student-centred personal tutoring approaches to do so. The study further outlined how many widening participation sport students enter university with negative previous personal tutoring experiences and have limited understanding and misguided expectations of the role. The collective findings provide academic colleagues and university management with evidence of one model of effective support for a successful transition into university. Practical implications for widening participation students studying both sport and other degree subjects are presented, as are future research avenues and study limitations.

Pediatric Healthcare Providers’, College Students’, and Community Adults’ Moral Condemnation Beliefs Toward Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals

Prejudice toward sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals plays a significant role in SGM youth healthcare. This study examines relations between psychosocial predictors (spirituality, religiosity, SGM education, experience with SGM individuals) and SGM moral condemnation among three distinct samples. This study utilized online questionnaires to assess moral condemnation toward SGM individuals, religiosity, spirituality, SGM experience, and education/training about SGM individuals. The questionnaires were distributed to a college sample, community sample, and pediatric healthcare provider sample. Data were collected in years 2016–2019. Religiosity positively predicted moral condemnation in all three samples. Spirituality positively predicted moral condemnation in the community and college samples, but not the provider sample. Education about SGM individuals, previous experience with SGM individuals, having a close SGM friend/family member, and self-reporting previous personal discrimination experiences, as a set, significantly explained additional variance in SGM moral condemnation within the community and college sample, but not within the healthcare provider sample. This study lays groundwork for innovative research to further improve pediatric SGM healthcare and to increase the extent to which SGM youth disclose and discuss specific healthcare risks with their medical providers. There is a significant need for social policy focused on decreasing SGM stigmatization and discrimination within the healthcare environment.

The prevalence and perception of self-medication among adults in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Self-medication, while potentially beneficial, also brings certain risks such as inappropriate treatment and adverse effects. In this study, we determine the prevalence and perception towards self-medication among adults living in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. This study was a cross-sectional study which sampled 562 respondents across the Klang Valley, Malaysia using a stratified quota sampling method and a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three sections: demographic data, self-medication practices and perception towards self-medication. Perception towards self-medication was measured using 20 statements with a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential tests as well as factor analysis were used to analyse the data. The overall prevalence of self-medication for minor ailments was 63.5%. Self-medication was practised to a similar degree regardless of respondent demographics. Respondents most frequently obtained their medicines for self-medication of minor ailments from pharmacies without consulting the pharmacist (68.6%), followed by using leftover medications at home (44.8%) and obtaining medicines from friends and family (16.0%). Factor analysis revealed that self-medication behaviour is driven by good perception towards self-medication in terms of efficacy, safety and convenience, as well as by previous personal or shared experiences. The prevalence of self-medication is high among adults in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Adults who self-medicate view the consequences of self-medication in a positive light and may be influenced by previous personal or shared experiences. As certain risks with self-medication may be underestimated, efforts to educate the public while promoting a more proactive approach among healthcare professionals should be encouraged.

Evaluation of mental health stigma on medical education: an observational study with Portuguese medical students.

Background:The Portuguese mental health care plan emphasizes that health care professionals can be a source of stigma against people with mental illness enhancing self-stigma and leading to a decrease in the search for help and adherence to treatment.Methods:In this exploratory study, we surveyed 111 first and last year students from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Portugal, using the Portuguese version of the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 to assess the attitudes toward mental illness.Results:The students showed a significant difference in the segregation dimension, and in some items related with pity and coercion in the end of the course. These results express a positive will to integrate people with mental illness in community, a decrease of pity and a valorization of the pharmacological treatment in this kind of disease. The previous personal experience of psychiatric problems decreases the level of segregation and psychological problems increase the motivation to help.Conclusion:Final-year students express more positive and less discriminatory attitudes toward people with severe mental illness than first-year students. This is likely due to education and contact opportunities promoted throughout the medical school, as well as due to the experience of having gone to a psychology or psychiatric consultation. Knowledge of stigma levels of future medical doctors is therefore crucial for the prevention of attitudes that could condition the provision of medical care.

Livestock owners\u2019 worry and fear of tick-borne diseases

BackgroundRecent global changes have led to an increase in distribution of ticks towards higher elevation and latitude in Europe and livestock are at increasing risk of contracting tick-borne diseases, but psychological aspects of how this affects human well-being are rarely assessed. Departing from the theory on emotional appraisal coming from psychology, this study investigates which factors that modulate worry and fear associated with the presence of ticks among livestock owners of sheep and/or cattle.MethodsSurvey data from 775 livestock owners in Norway were analysed by hierarchical multiple regression analysis with an index of fear of tick-borne diseases among livestock as the outcome variable.ResultsTwenty-nine per cent of the livestock owners reported worry and fear of tick-borne diseases among their livestock. The model explained 35% of the variance in worry and fear. There was a weak association between estimated incidences of tick-borne diseases in livestock and livestock owners’ worry and fear. Whereas previous personal experience of ticks and tick-borne diseases in livestock, and the livestock owners’ appraisals of the situation were more strongly associated with relatively stronger feelings of worry and fear.ConclusionsLivestock owners’ worry and fear of tick-borne diseases in livestock can partly be understood as their appraisals of perceived personal relevance of the presence of ticks, its potential negative implications for their daily life at large, and what potential they have to cope by different strategies to adapt or adjust to the situation.

Physician Associate Students' Experience of Anatomy Dissection

The role of physician assistant/associate (PA) has expanded from its inception in the United States over 50years ago, to European countries including Ireland. While there is an increasing body of evidence exploring the role and training of PAs in clinical settings, there is a scarcity of research exploring PA students' perspectives in relation to their experience of anatomy dissection, or how these experiences may contribute to the development of their core professional identity. Students in the first two cohorts of PA Program at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland program were invited to interviews which solicited them to reflect and report on their own experiences of anatomical dissection during their course. Participants' responses were analyzed using a thematic inductive approach; common themes and patterns were organized into a hierarchical structure, which generated the final framework of themes. Ten participants took part in the study; only one had previous personal experience of dissection, while two further participants had some familiarity with prosected specimens. The first theme concerned the participants' expectation of anatomical dissection, with sub-themes of preconceptions, smell, and emotions. The second theme involves discussion of coping strategies that the participants used, including talking, viewing the cadaver as their first patient, and naming (or not naming) the cadaver. The third theme includes how the participants' talked about respect and compassion in the dissection room, development of team working skills, and awareness of bereavement and organ donation. A number of recommendations were also made for the experience and orientation of future students in such a program.

Prosocial and Aggressive Behavior Occurrence in Young Athletes: Field Research Results in Six European Countries

Aggression and violence among youth are researched as social phenomena in sport. This paper was designed to determine the occurrence of these behaviors as well as prosocial behaviors among young athletes. The current paper is a research report aiming to detect the frequency of aggressive behavior, social exclusion, prosocial behavior and cohesion in the youth environment, the frequency of personal experience of peer violence or social exclusion, and to evaluate cross-national differences in terms of occurrence of these phenomena.The field research was conducted in six European countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, and Serbia) on a sample of 482 children aged 6 to 16. The conducted questionnaire consisted of pre-existing scales and measures for specific behaviors and social aspects that formed the Youth Environment Assessment and Youth Characteristics Questionnaire. Previous personal experience of violence and social exclusion determined groups in the sample. One-way ANOVA and discriminant analysis were conducted to compare various variables and groups within the sample. The results have shown that aggressive and social exclusion behaviors are rare or very rare, predominantly in the form of verbal aggression in the sports club environment. The results of the conducted discriminant analysis indicate that prosocial and cohesion behaviors occur “quite often” to “often” among sports club athletes’ samples. The percentage of athletes who have had personal experience of violence or social exclusion in the last two years and whose feeling of hurt by that experience was assessed as “a lot” or “fully” on the measurement scale is estimated to be approximately 25%. Mild cross-national differences emerged in the overmentioned variables, probably due to the sample specificity, or to cultural variety. The results indicate the need for longitudinal research on this topic since the sport is an environment in which cohesion can be developed among young athletes, but it is not free from social exclusion or aggression.

A VISÃO MÉDICA E ACADÊMICA DA PSIQUIATRIA: UM ESTUDO QUANTITATIVO EM UM CENTRO UNIVERSITÁRIO PARTICULAR DO OESTE DO PARANÁ

Objetivo: Este artigo tem como objetivo comparar as diferentes visões sobre a psiquiatria ao longo do curso de medicina e da formação médica. Métodos: Foram avaliadas antecedentes pessoais e familiares relativos a doença mental e aplicado o questionário AQ-9 de Corrigan em 98 alunos do 1º ao 6º ano de medicina do Centro Universitário da Fundação Assis Gurgacz e em 06 profissionais da área médica, para avaliação do estigma. Resultados: Os resultados apontaram para a ausência de influências da formação médica na percepção de estigma sobre a psiquiatria ou doença mental, e sim maior evidência para fatores extrínsecos. Conclusão: através desta análise, foi possível concluir que pode não haver uma relação específica entre o estigma dentro da psiquiatria e o grau de instrução acadêmica dentro do curso de medicina.&#x0D;

The Family Attitudes of Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease Toward Living Kidney Donation in China

BackgroundOrgan shortages limit the progress of organ transplantation. The family attitudes of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) play an important role in advocating organ transplantation and donation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the family attitudes of patients with ESRD toward living kidney donation in China. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of Linyi People’s Hospital. This study was performed in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Materials and methodsThis research was performed at 5 third-level hospitals with hemodialysis and nephrology departments, and a small section comes from urology departments. The participants were surveyed from January to November 2018. Attitudes were evaluated using a validated questionnaire concerning the psychosocial aspects of organ donation. The self-administered questionnaire was completed anonymously. Statistical analyses employed t tests and the χ2 test. ResultsRegarding living kidney donation, 69.1% (n = 428) of patient families favored it; however, only 30.9% (n = 192) did not support it. A favorable attitude toward living donation was mainly associated with the following variables: 1. the recipient is not more than 50 years old; 2. the recipient is a member of the immediate family; 3. the living donation is from the recipient’s family member; 4. the family has previous personal experience with organ transplantation and donation; and 5. the family has a concern about the possibility of needing a transplant within the family unit (P < .05). ConclusionsEconomic burden and mental stress from long-term dialysis influenced the attitudes and behavioral intentions of the families of patients with ESRD on advocating organ donation. Repeated education and constant advocacy are advised to increase the participation of families of patients with ESRD in organ donation. The results showed favorable attitudes toward living kidney donation among the families of patients with ESRD.

The Search of Psycholinguistic Images for the Technical Terms on the Professionally Oriented English Lessons

The relevance of the article is to describe the practical experience of psycholinguistic studies on the professionally oriented English lessons concerning such directions as electotechnique, automation, mechanics being dealt with students’ associative links finding out, terms decoding, the projection of technical terms on commonly used vocabulary aiming to develop psychomotor and emotional memory on the basis of previous personal knowledge and experience to generate and to percept foreign language speech. The authors observed the daily process of language and metalinguistic reflection, the deployment of linguistic tissue in speech as a spiritual activity involving psycholinguistic exercises concerning each abovenamed technical specialty to be represented after analyzing the main psycholinguistic ideas by known scientists. The author s of this article emphasize th e importance to involve students into the search of psycholinguistic images for the technical terms during real existing studying process within the concrete Ukrainian higher educational establishment - the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. It is possible to confirm that the assimilation of technical terms on practical classes of technical English language in the sphere of electotechnique, automation, mechanics is always deepened due to technical terms decoding and their transformation into psycholinguistic images - so-called thoughtform as well as Internet references WebQuests posters with the adequate imaged terms. Besides, it should be also confirmed that the foreign-language professionally oriented technical speech should be primarily regarded as a moving-fluid creative phenomenon aiming to form one general product either from speech, movement, experience, perception, memorizing, emotion, interest, thinking, decoding , associations with commonly used vocabulary aiming to represent psycholinguistic images within introduction of conversational situations. It was lawful to apply psycholinguistic experiment as a method of the conducted research involving students of technical training direction into a poll to confirm or to deny the positivity to find out associative links, to decode terms, to project technical terms on commonly used vocabulary aiming to develop psychomotor and emotional memory basing upon previous personal knowledge and experience to generate and to percept foreign language speech. Such psycholinguistic experiment showed the interest of technical training direction s tudents to apply all psycholinguistic factors to study technical terms in images especially on the stage of finding out associative links with technical terms ( 35 % ). Comparatively less positive factors were detected as the stage to project technical terms on commonly used vocabulary ( 26 % ) as well as the stage to develop psychomotor and emotional memory while studying technical terms ( 24 % ) or the stage to decode technical terms ( 15 % ). The prospect of research is a description of the experience of practicing some psycholinguistic studies on the English profweessionally oriented language to train students not only for the technical but also for the agrobiological, economic, philological and, in fact, the psychological direction itself.

Patients’ Preferences for Dentist’s Nationality and Gender among Residents of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Introduction:Several studies have shown that a dentist’s gender and nationality are important factors for patients when they choose their dentist. This topic is important in countries like Saudi Arabia, which is considered to be conservative and has many cultural boundaries that separate men from women in daily activities.Aim:This study aimed to investigate patient preference for a dentist’s gender among a sample population in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Methods:This cross-sectional study recruited 1,000 participants who completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.21.Results:A total of 46.2% of the participants had no particular gender preference for dentists in general, while 28.6% prefered male dentists and 25.2% prefered female dentists. Male and female participants had statistically significant differences in the selection of a dentist’s gender in general, with all participants tending to choose a dentist of the same gender as themselves. Previous personal experience and recommendations from friends were among the most influential factors in choosing dentists of a specific gender. In terms of preferences for dentists of a particular nationality, 45.6% had no preferences, while 28.4% preferred Saudi dentists.Conclusion:Although half of the Jeddah residents participating in our study had no preference for dentists of a particular gender or nationality, the other half had specific preferences.

The role of gender as a moderator in the relationship between disease perception and coping with stress strategies among psychiatric patients

Abstract Introduction: The perception of disease depends on the patient’s beliefs related to the nature of the illness, the previous personal or family experiences and his/her attitude to them. Patients try to understand and cope with health problems. The purpose of the present study was to answer the question which components of the relationship between the strategies for coping with stress and mental disease perception are moderated by gender. Material and Methods: The study involved 98 patients with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, alcohol related disorders. The research of the variables was carried out using the COPE Inventory and Disease Perception Questionnaire. Results: It has been noticed that in men, when their perception of the mental disorder as beneficial increases, the religious strategies for coping with stress become more frequent. Furthermore, the opposite sex pattern emerged. In the situation when an individual’s perception of the illness as a threat increased, female patients less frequently employed religious coping and planning. Furthermore, in women, when the perception of the mental disease as a weakness increases, the frequency of using emotional social support and acceptance decreases. Conclusions: The result indicated that there are opposite patterns of gender specific coping strategy dependent on the mental illness perception.

Turismo educativo: homenaje a la moda o nuevas oportunidades educativas?

The relevance of this article lies in the need to study educational tourism as one of the ways to motivate students in educational process. The article discusses new technologies in the educational process, which must be made more saturated and practically applicable. Visualization and the ability to implement the acquired knowledge can interest students and increase their interest in learning the information included in the curriculum. The purpose of the study is to analyze the importance of educational tourism for students. Research methods: As research methods, the following ones were used: questionnaire survey of participants of educational tours and free-style interviews with teachers and organizers of educational tourism, allowing identifying such characteristics of educational tourism’s value for students as awareness of participants about the project, previous personal experience, interest and satisfaction with the project. Research results: the article considers the importance of educational tourism from the point of view of its participants like students, accompanying teachers, from the point of view of the organizers of the tourist and educational project. The novelty and originality of the research lies in the fact that educational tourism is considered as an alternative to educational activities, which allows not only to make a trip, but also to acquire new knowledge, skills and abilities during it, which will be learned much better than just memorizing the material from the book. It is shown that the value of educational tourism can be assessed if there is knowledge about its components such as interest and personal experience of its participants, satisfaction or dissatisfaction with certain elements of the educational tour, awareness of the project possibilities, features of the organization and implementation of the tour. It is revealed that educational tourism performs not only directly educational, but also socially significant functions for society. The study shows that the project participants perceive the educational component easily and without difficulties and there is a high interest of students in educational tours. It is revealed that the accompanying notes a positive dynamic in the interest in the educational process after participation in the project. Both its participants and its organizers perceive the possibility of expanding the project positively. It is determined that the greatest difficulty in the organization of educational tourism is caused by the lack of support of state structures, which in turn causes difficulty in entering new sites where the project can be implemented. It is shown that the educational component of the project is positively evaluated by both direct consumers and teachers in terms of the correctness in the construction of the narrative and semantic parts. It is shown that to the positive aspects of educational tourism can be attributed the emotional involvement of participants in the educational process during the excursion service, as well as increasing the level of their interest in further study. Practical significance: the data obtained in this work can be used in social psychology, pedagogy, age psychology, pedagogical psychology, as well as for further theoretical development of this issue.

Farming decisions in a complex and uncertain world: Nitrogen management in Midwestern corn agriculture

Excess agricultural nitrogen (N) in the environment is a persistent problem in the United States and other regions of the world, contributing to water and air pollution, as well as to climate change. Efforts to reduce N from agricultural sources largely rely on voluntary efforts by farmers to reduce inputs and improve uptake by crops. However, research has failed to comprehensively depict farmers9 N decision-making processes, particularly when engaging with uncertainty. Through analysis of in-depth interviews with US corn (Zea mays L.) growers, this study reveals how farmers experience and process numerous uncertainties associated with N management, such as weather variability, crop and input price volatility, lack of knowledge about biophysical systems, and the possibility of underapplying or overapplying. Farmers used one of two general decision-making management strategies to address these uncertainties: heuristic-based or data-intensive decision-making. Heuristic-based decision-making involves minimizing sources of uncertainty and reliance on heuristics and personal previous experiences, while data-intensive decision-making is the increased use of field- and farm-scale data collection and management, as well as increased management effort within a given growing season.

CN25 - Greek nursing students experience facing death in clinical practice

BackgroundThe real life experience in clinical arena can be challenging for student nurses, to cope with the patients’ suffering, to provide care, to communicate with them and their caregivers as death approaches .It is essential to understand student nurses’ feelings when confronted a dying patient, so that specific training, consultation and empowerment give them prior to their clinical placement. However, there has been little research in Greece on student nurses’ experience when facing care of patients and their caregivers in the last days of life.The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate student nurse’s experience facing death and dying of a patient during their clinical practice. MethodsA qualitative, descriptive design was used. Qualitative data were collected in June 2018 from 4th -year nursing students’ of Nursing School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Experiences were collected through written reflections to obtain data about their experience when cared for a serious ill patient and when delivered their care to a dying patient and their caregivers. A content analysis of their comments was carried out. ResultsFrom 101 undergraduated nurses 42 answered in open-ended question “Please describe the death experience of a patient during your clinical practice”. The response rate was 41,6%.The average age of the students was 22.Nursing students’ comments revealed concerns on handling the family/caregivers of the dying patient, their willingness to care for body of the dying, expressing their emotions such as sadness, describing death experience using medical terminology and using their previous personal experiences and knowledge to handle with . Thus five categories were emerged, the concept of “family/caregivers issues” “participation in the care of the dying” “description of the event using medical terminology”, “expressing emotions positive or negative” and “referring to their previous experience and knowledge” respectively. ConclusionsStudy’s findings highlighted the influence of knowledge, personal attitudes and clinical stressors that student nurses faced in a clinical practice when they were training in palliative care. Legal entity responsible for the studyThe authors. FundingHas not received any funding. DisclosureAll authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Preliminary look at the motivators and decision-making process of medical tourists from Nigeria to India

Purpose The past decade has witnessed a tremendous and progressive growth in the number of Nigerians who engage in medical tourism from Nigeria to India. Various commentators have advanced diverse reasons for this trend. However, there is a dearth of research that has sought to provide empirical insights. This paper aims to investigate the decision-making process of Nigerian medical tourists and why they prefer medical tourism to India to medical care locally. Design/methodology/approach Eight Nigerian medical tourists are interviewed on a one-on-one basis with open-ended questions using purposive criterion sampling technique from an interpretivist mind-set. Findings The paper identifies two major motivators, namely, inadequate medical infrastructure and poor medical, and customer service from health workers in Nigeria, which spurred medical tourism from Nigeria to India. Further, it finds that first timers premise their decisions on advice from reference groups, while previous personal experiences guide decisions on subsequent medical travels. Findings are explained using the template provided by the theory of planned behaviour. Originality/value This exploratory nature of this research provides a useful basis to elucidate the course of decision-making of Nigerian patients so that appropriate marketing communication channels can be applied. It improves the process of recruiting and engaging Nigerian patients and nurturing wholesome relationships between Nigerian patients and hospitals.