‘Launching’ a new nation: The unfolding brand of South Sudan

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.

All the World’s a Stage: Promotional Politics and Branded Identities in Asia

“…Critical work has emerged only recently and it is making fundamental contributions to the study of global promotional politics in an era of (supposed) global competitiveness, notably highlighting the geopolitical underpinnings of national promotional practices (Browning & Ferraz de Oliveira, 2017a;2017b;Rumelili & Suleymanoglu-Kurum, 2017;Szostek, 2017). More research is needed into the diverse ways in which global promotional imperatives serve as instruments of both domestic governance and nation building (Cho, 2017;Cornelissen, 2017;Marklund, 2017), especially in new states (Harengel & Gbadamosi, 2014) or states that have undergone crises threatening national cohesion (Valaskivi, 2013).…”

‘If I huff and I puff’. Foundations for building Brazil’s image: Evidence from an international systematic review (2001 to 2015)

“…The Olympic Games or other major events can accelerate the changes in a country's image (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2002). Studies on socioeconomic changes influencing country image were examined by several researchers (Szondi, 2007;Nowinska, 2012;Matiza and Oni 2013;Ruzzier and De Chernatony, 2013;Vdovichena and Olijnych, 2013;Harengel and Gbadamosi, 2014).…”

“…Regarding place branding concepts and processes, there are place branding models which take different perspectives on the branding process - respectively, relationship management, communications, and strategic planning; "none of these models are comprehensive and neither are they widely adopted or tested" (Hanna and Rowley, 2011, p.458 A detailed case study examination of the country brand during the transitional period after a crisis by Harengel and Gbadamosi (2014) showed that media outlets play a relevant and curious role regarding the nation image formation. The authors have examined the role of four newspapers in the construction of a country brand.…”

“…Another major limitation of this case study is that "the analysis concentrated on print media, meaning a selection of other media forms might have led to different results" (p.51). However, in their ground--breaking paper, Harengel and Gbadamosi's (2014,) contribution is seen to be one of the first studies to trace the launch of a country brand. The authors' final suggestion is "that research on the internal national identity building process starts by identifying the unique communication channels that exist in the absence of conventional media channels" (p.51).…”

Place Images and Nation Branding in the African Context: Challenges, Opportunities, and Questions for Policy and Research

“…To the extent that the views of all relevant publics are to some extent or other shaped by the public media, it is, perhaps, surprising that "media management" and "public diplomacy" have received so little attention in policy and virtually none in research. This is especially so in view of the lack of control over media coverage, as stressed by Harengel and Gbadamosi (2014) in their study of international news media effects on the development of the South Soudan nation brand. These authors highlighted the variability of a nation's image within different cultural environments, which serves to underscore not only how important this area is but also how difficult it is to understand, and, therefore, how necessary it is for it to receive more policy and research attention.…”