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Health and wellness–related travel, also known as medical tourism, is a topical phenomenon with a wide range of effects in both local and transnational contexts. This scoping study examines the literature on this phenomenon from the perspective of travelers. The literature search was conducted using three databases (EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and SCOPUS) and covered the period from 2010 to 2018. The results show that the literature is divided into two academic fields: social sciences and tourism. Travel from the Global North to the Global South still dominates the field of medical travel research, and studies on South-to-South or intra-regional travel are underrepresented. There is a need for a more in-depth qualitative understanding of travelers’ lived experiences and for studies with more advanced quantitative methods and longitudinal research designs. We call for more interdisciplinary and theoretical approaches to health and wellness–related travel and propose a conceptual model that considers travelers’ intent (medical/wellness) and status (patient/tourist).

Artikkeli on laadittu osana Strategisen tutkimuksen neuvoston rahoittamaa ”Kansalaisuuden kuilut ja kuplat (BIBU)” -tutkimushanketta (hanke nro 312710). Artikkeli on julkaistu alun perin e-julkaisuna 9.10.2020 A recent qualitative study of the highest income permille in Finland showed that the wealthiest segmentof society considers the welfare state to be costly,inefficient and demoralizing (Kantola & Kuusela2019). On the basis of Finnish data from the EuropeanSocial Survey 2008 (n=2,195) and 2016 (n=1, 925), weexamine the extent to which the connection between anindividual’s disposable income and attitudes towardsincome inequality and social security can be found atthe level of the entire population. In line with Kantolaand Kuusela, we concentrated on the top income group,here consisting of the highest decile, executives andprivate entrepreneurs.Te results of regression analyses indicate anexpected relationship: the higher the income, themore critical the view of the welfare state’s perceivedcosts and adverse incentives for economic activity.Such sentiments were particularly pronounced amongexecutives and entrepreneurs, who did not considerincome inequalities particularly problematic either. Onthe other hand, these groups were not blind to the socialbenefts of the welfare state, including the prevention ofpoverty and increased social fairness. Altogether, theseresults imply that the sense of political solidarity, oftenconsidered a social plaster in the Nordic model, has notvanished but might be gradually eroding.

Insecure and restless neighbourhood conditions lower the quality of life, imply health risks and may accelerate segregation through selective migration. This study examined subjective insecurity and perceptions of social disorder—including public drunkenness, vandalism, threatening behaviour and the like—in different residential contexts. The focus was on Finnish post-WWII housing estates built in the 1960s and 1970s. Compared to other kinds of neighbourhoods, these areas often suffer from a negative reputation related to poverty, insecurity and disorder. However, the residents’ views are often at odds with the negative public image. There is a lack of reliable evidence on where estates stand in comparison to other kinds of neighbourhoods. Furthermore, the full diversity of estates has typically not been addressed in prior studies. Empirically, the study relied on three sets of survey data that were combined with contextual register data. The covered area varies from Helsinki to the entire country while the contextual units range from statistical grids to city districts. The key findings were the following: 1) The level of perceived social disorder was only slightly higher in the estates built in the 1960s and 1970s than in other multi-storey neighbourhoods. This small difference was due to socio-economic disadvantage. As expected, the low-rise neighbourhoods were considerably more peaceful than the multi-storey ones. 2) Rental-dominated tenure structure exposed the estate residents to higher levels of perceived disorder because rental estates are typically more disadvantaged. Social integration of the estate community played no role in terms of disorder. In contrast, the level of normative regulation partly explained why disadvantage is related to disorder. 3) At the district level, disadvantage, disorder (from police registers), residing in proximity to a metro or train station and living in a social housing flat exposed residents to subjective insecurity. Victimisation partly mediated the association between disadvantage and insecurity. The study shed light on the diversity of estates. From the point of view of social life, estates markedly differ from each other. Tenure structure has a decisive influence on the socio-economic structure, which implies differences in normative regulation and social order. This is an important finding in terms of tenure-mix policies. Compared to rental-dominated neighbourhoods, a more mixed tenure structure implies a less disadvantaged and more regulated local community, which paves way for a more peaceful local social life. Turvaton ja rauhaton naapurusto heikentää elämänlaatua, tuo mukanaan terveysriskejä ja voi kiihdyttää asuinalueiden eriytymistä valikoivan muuttoliikkeen välityksellä. Tämä tutkimus tarkasteli subjektiivisia turvattomuuden kokemuksia ja sosiaalisen epäjärjestyksen (mm. julkinen juopottelu, vandalismi, uhkaava käytös) havaintoja erilaisilla asuinalueilla. Tutkimus keskittyi erityisesti 1960- ja 1970-luvuilla rakennettuihin lähiöihin. Verrattuna muunlaisiin naapurustoihin lähiöt kärsivät tyypillisesti heikosta maineesta, joka liittyy köyhyyteen, turvattomuuteen ja sosiaalisen järjestyksen ongelmiin. Asukkaiden kokemukset ovat kuitenkin usein tätä julkista mielikuvaa positiivisempia. Luotettavaa tutkimusnäyttöä lähiöiden tilanteesta suhteessa muunlaisiin naapurustoihin on niukalti. Aikaisemmat tutkimukset eivät ole myöskään riittävästi huomioineet lähiöiden koko kirjoa. Tämä tutkimus hyödynsi kolmea laajaa kyselyaineistoa, joihin yhdistettiin kontekstuaalista rekisteritietoa kuvaamaan asuinalueen ominaisuuksia. Tutkimusalue vaihteli eri osajulkaisuissa Helsingistä koko maahan. Asuinkonteksti puolestaan muodostettiin tilastoruuduista ja Helsingin peruspiireistä. Tutkimuksen päätulokset olivat seuraavat: 1) Sosiaalisen epäjärjestyksen taso oli 1960- ja 1970-luvuilla rakennetuissa lähiöissä vain hieman korkeampi kuin muissa kerrostalonaapurustoissa. Tämä pieni ero selittyi sosio-ekonomisella huono-osaisuudella. Matalasti rakennetut naapurustot olivat rauhallisempia kuin kerrostaloalueet. 2) Vuokravaltaiset lähiöt olivat muita rauhattomampia, mikä johtuu sosio-ekonomisesta huono-osaisuudesta. Lähiön sosiaalisen integraation taso ei ollut yhteydessä sosiaaliseen epäjärjestykseen. Sen sijaan erot normatiivisessa sääntelyssä selittivät osin lähiön huono-osaisuuden ja sosiaalisen epäjärjestyksen suhdetta. 3) Tarkasteltaessa Helsingin peruspiirejä havaittiin, että sosio-ekonominen huono-osaisuus, järjestyshäiriöt (poliisirekistereistä), asuminen metro- tai juna-aseman läheisyydessä sekä kunnallinen vuokra-asunto kerrostalossa altistivat koetulle turvattomuudelle. Uhrikokemukset selittivät osaltaan huono-osaisuuden ja turvattomuuden suhdetta. Tutkimus toi lisätietoja lähiöiden moninaisuudesta. Lähiöt eroavat toisistaan merkittävästi sosiaalisen elämän osalta. Hallintasuhderakenteella on keskeinen vaikutus sosio-ekonomiseen rakenteeseen, mistä seuraa eroja normatiivisessa sääntelyssä ja sosiaalisessa järjestyksessä. Tämä on olennainen tulos sekoittamispolitiikan näkökulmasta. Verrattuna vuokravaltaisiin alueisiin, sekoitetumman alueen väestöpohja on tasapainoisempi, paikallinen sosiaalinen elämä tehokkaammin säänneltyä ja yhteiselo siten rauhallisempaa.

Tässä menetelmäartikkelissa esitellään spatiaalisten mallien soveltamista sosiaalitieteellisessä kyselytutkimuksessa. Havainnollistavina esimerkkeinä käytetään koettua terveyttä ja koettua turvattomuutta Helsingin metropolialueella. Spatiaalinen analyysi tarjoaa joustavia työkaluja paitsi analyysin eksploratiiviseen vaiheeseen, myös mallinnukseen, jossa havaintojen spatiaalinen korrelaatio voidaan ottaa huomioon paikkatietopohjaisen naapuruusmäärityksen avulla. Artikkelissa käydään läpi spatiaalisten mallien soveltamisen kannalta keskeistä käsitteistöä ei-teknisellä ja käytännöllisellä otteella. Havainnollistavassa esimerkissä verrataan tavanomaisten regressiomallien tuloksia aluemallien vastaaviin. Artikkelissa todetaan, että koetulla turvattomuudella on selvästi enemmän alueellista rakennetta kuin terveydellä. Turvattomuus on siinä määrin spatiaalisesti korreloitunut ilmiö, että spatiaalisten mallien soveltaminen on perusteltua, minkä seurauksena selittävien kontekstimuuttujien piste-estimaatit pienenevät tuntuvasti tavanomaisten mallien tuottamiin estimaatteihin nähden.

Most of the aggregate level analyses on the relationship between objective and subjective measures for well-being have limited themselves to measures of national GDP and mean life satisfaction. We develop this line of research by embedding the analysis into the context of 289 NUTS regions in Europe and replacing the simple life satisfaction measure with measures of active human functioning. This approach suggest that the measures of personal and social well-being, as they are operationalized in the 6th round European Social Survey (ESS) questionnaire, can be treated as subjective indicators for social and human capital and thereby be are associated with the regional level GDP in cross-sectional analysis. The focus of this study could hence be defined as an interdisciplinary attempt to understand economic reality from the perspective of subjective well-being research. Thus, the paper also argues for better interdisciplinary communication between the traditions of economic geography and subjective well-being research. First, the results give further validation to the previous research indicating that general ´social trust` is strongly associated with economic performance. This component was shown to have robust and independent association with the dependent variable in both OLS and spatial filtering models. Also the indicator for ´social contact and support` appears to have positive and significant correlation with the regional GDP. On the subjective human capital the strongest predictor for regional GDP is a sense of ´competence and meaning` among the population. However, from the perspective of personal wellbeing, there seems to be some sort of tradeoff regarding some elements of objective and subjective wellbeing; the component ?autonomy and control` seems to be negatively correlated to economic performance. All of the effects described above proved robust also after including the objective control variables (population density, intramural R&D expenditure, share of tertiary educated population and employment). The results of this study are hoped to contribute to literature on regional economic development. This study offers some new insight to the instrumentalization and measuring of social and human capital. The subjective indicators used in this study are reflecting the quality of both human and social capital without retaining only to the objective quantity such as educational (human capital) or associational (social capital) attainment. From the policy perspective the results give tentative support to bottom-up policies facilitating local capacity building through supporting the psychological and social wellbeing and positive human functioning in regions. However, the cross-sectional framework limits significantly the possibility for any policy suggestions as we cannot confirm the assumptions on causalities embedded in the analysis. The results of this study could however inspire new interdisciplinary enquiries on this field of research and offer new alternative measures for building regional growth models.

This article, supported with a translation of a key passage, introduces Georges Canguilhem’s Essai sur quelques problèmes concernant le normal et le pathologique to Finnish readers. It consists of an introduction to Canguilhem's background, a presentation of Essai's main argument and technical remarks on translation. Essai continues to be a thought-provoking text in the history and philosophy of science, in the tradition marked by Bachelard and Cavaillès. Influenced by Alain, Goldstein, and more implicitly Nietszche, Canguilhem defines health not as normality but normativity, i.e. the capacity to institute new vital norms. This article, supported with a translation of a key passage, introduces Georges Canguilhem’s Essai sur quelques problèmes concernant le normal et le pathologique to Finnish readers. It consists of an introduction to Canguilhem's background, a presentation of Essai's main argument and technical remarks on translation. Essai continues to be a thought-provoking text in the history and philosophy of science, in the tradition marked by Bachelard and Cavaillès. Influenced by Alain, Goldstein, and more implicitly Nietszche, Canguilhem defines health not as normality but normativity, i.e. the capacity to institute new vital norms.

This study examines the cross-sectional association of three value orientations (self-direction, achievement and power) and level of gross domestic product (GDP) in 289 NUTS regions. Regional value aggregates, drawn from Schwartz’s Human Value Scale included in the European Social Survey, are taken to indicate value-based human capital. Regression analysis shows that self-direction, indicating independent thought, action and creativity, is a strong predictor for regional GDP after controlling for standard control variables and spatial autocorrelation. Additionally, analysis implements welfare regimes as indicators of larger socio-historic frames and finds significant geographical variations within these frames regarding the relationship between prevailing value climate and level of economic performance. The study contrasts perspectives from economic geography and cultural studies to the literature on alternative definitions and measures for human capital and argues that a synthesis of these perspectives can enrich one’s understanding of the economic geography in Europe.

This study examines the cross-sectional association of three value orientations (self-direction, achievement and power) and level of gross domestic product (GDP) in 289 NUTS regions. Regional value aggregates, drawn from Schwartz’s Human Value Scale included in the European Social Survey, are taken to indicate value-based human capital. Regression analysis shows that self-direction, indicating independent thought, action and creativity, is a strong predictor for regional GDP after controlling for standard control variables and spatial autocorrelation. Additionally, analysis implements welfare regimes as indicators of larger socio-historic frames and finds significant geographical variations within these frames regarding the relationship between prevailing value climate and level of economic performance. The study contrasts perspectives from economic geography and cultural studies to the literature on alternative definitions and measures for human capital and argues that a synthesis of these perspectives can enrich one’s understanding of the economic geography in Europe.