Health Equity Tourism: Ravaging the Justice Landscape

This study discusses the rise of “health equity tourism,” the process of previously unengaged investigators pivoting into health equity research without developing the necessary scientific expertise for high-quality work. The authors explain the phenomenon and detail the conditions that facilitated its development. They also describe the consequences of health equity tourism – namely, recapitulating systems of inequity within the academy and the dilution of a landscape carefully curated by scholars who have demonstrated sustained commitments to equity research as a primary scientific discipline and praxis. Lastly, they provide a set of principles that can guide novice equity researchers to becoming community members rather than mere tourists of health equity.

Resource Details

• Topics of Practice: Data Collection and Analysis
• Outcomes of Interest: Improve Organizational Infrastructure
• Level of Evidence: Promising
• Tools or Materials Included in Resource: No
• Social Determinants of Health: Healthcare Access and Quality|Social and Community Context
• Outside of US: No