Introducing Cultural Studies

Abstract

Background: Cognitive Muscular TherapyTM (CMT) is an integrated behavioural intervention developed for knee osteoarthritis. CMT teaches patients to reconceptualise the condition, integrates muscle biofeedback and aims to reduce muscle overactivity, both in response to pain and during daily activities. This nested qualitative study explored patient and physiotherapist perspectives and experiences of CMT.Methods: Five physiotherapists were trained to follow a well-defined protocol and then delivered CMT to at least two patients with knee osteoarthritis. Each patient received seven individual clinical sessions and was provided with access to online learning materials incorporating animated videos. Semi-structured interviews took place after delivery/completion of the intervention and data were analysed at the patient and physiotherapist level.Results: Five physiotherapists and five patients were interviewed. All described a process of changing beliefs throughout their engagement with CMT. A framework with three phases was developed to organise the data according to how osteoarthritis was conceptualised and how this changed throughout their interactions with CMT. Firstly, was an identification of pain beliefs to be challenged and recognition of how current beliefs can misalign with daily experiences. Secondly was a process of challenging and changing beliefs, validated through new experiences. Finally, there was an embedding of changed beliefs into self-management to continue with activities. Conclusion:This study identified a range of psychological changes which occur during exposure to CMT. These changes enabled patients to reconceptualise their condition, develop a new understanding of their body, understand psychological processes, and make sense of their knee pain.

Adventure cultures: an international comparison

“…Overall, then, the results of this study suggest that both New Zealand and Australia have more pronounced adventure cultures than the UK. If, in addition to historical differences between the societies, landscape and nature are important elements in national cultures (Baldwin et al, 2004) there may be a connection between landscape/nature and adventure in New Zealand and Australia that is not available in the UK. Future analysis of other magazine content (and other media) may provide useful insights into relationships between colonial experiences and production of national adventure narratives.…”

“…Like sport, landscape and nature are vital elements of nature cultures. They are social products of material circumstances (Baldwin et al, 2004). In outdoor sport and recreation practices, at least in some countries (Humberstone & Pedersen, 2001), differences in landscape and conceptions of nature may be associated with differences in adventure cultures.…”

The Palgrave Handbook of Sociology in Britain

“…Texts announcing their wholehearted commitment to the cultural turn within sociology (Alexander and Thompson, 2008) did not, in truth, greatly differ from those that did not. In parallel, cultural studies primers more closely resembled those in sociology by way of topic coverage and conceptual themes, especially when couched in 'sociology of knowledge' mould (Baldwin et al, 2004). And the showcase volume British Cultural Studies (Morley and Robins, 2001) was notable both for the number of sociologists involved and for the absence of intellectual differences among the variety of specialist contributors.…”

StoryBeads: Preserving Indigenous Knowledge through Tangible Interaction Design

“…If StoryBeads is widely deployed it might disrupt the current balance of how bead knowledge is transferred within the BaNtwane community. Cultures are dynamic by nature [1] and perhaps for a culture to survive, existing knowledge-transfer processes need to be adapted. It remains to be seen what the long-term effect of such a disruption will be.…”

“…In this process, the values of the cultural traditions are captured in a way that fits the contemporary lifestyle of the community itself. Cultures are dynamic [1] and a preservation system should embrace this quality to make it relevant to future generations. There is significant interest within the IKS research community to develop recording mechanisms that can capture indigenous knowledge.…”