Aspects of sustainability in the destination branding process: a bottom-up approach

The concept of sustainability is based on the premise that the inhabitants of a destination should be involved in the way that destination is managed and promoted. At the same time, the literature of place branding emphasizes the important role of local stakeholders in the creation of a true and reliable place brand. In fact, the process of developing a destination brand begins with the aim of shaping the identity of a destination; what the destination stands for. The sustainable dimensions of the destination branding process are explored, while focus groups and structured questionnaires are used to evaluate the usefulness of projection techniques in the process of building a brand identity. It seems that the use of the personification technique could work as an effective destination positioning exercise and as an alternative proposal to the outdated clichés used in tourism promotion

Strategic Planning for Local Tourism Destinations: An Analysis of Tourism

This paper reports on a study of the planning practices of local tourism destinations. The tourism plans of 30 local tourism destinations in Queensland, Australia were analyzed to determine the extent to which sustainability principles, namely strategic planning and stakeholder participation, were integrated into the planning process. Utilizing a tourism planning process evaluation instrument developed by Simpson (2001), it was found that local tourism destinations are not integrating sustainability principles in their planning processes

Integrating Sustainability into the Strategic Planning of National Tourism Organizations

This article describes an empirical study undertaken in national tourism organizations in Europe responsible for tourism planning to investigate the parameters that compose the capability to integrate sustainability into the strategic planning process and the factors that contribute to its development. Results indicate that both strategic planning and the integration of sustainability in national tourism organizations face problems that limit the potential of strategic planning to contribute substantially toward sustainability. Further to problems traced within the organizations and in the design of the strategic planning process, the research reveals the negative influence exerted by various exogenous factors. This article discusses the role that national tourism organizations can play in operationalizing sustainable tourism and pursuing it through strategic planning and suggests ways to improve performance in this respect. It also reveals a large scope for more empirical work for the integration of sustainability into strategic planning for tourism at a national level

Quality of life, mental health and health beliefs in haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients: Investigating differences in early and later years of current treatment

Background. The study examines differences regarding quality of life (QoL), mental health and illness beliefs between in-centre haemodialysis (HD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD/PD) patients. Differences are examined between patients who recently commenced treatment compared to patients on long term treatment. Methods. 144 End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients were recruited from three treatment units, of which 135 provided full data on the variables studied. Patients consisted of: a) 77 in-centre haemodialysis (HD) and 58 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD/PD) patients, all currently being treated by dialysis for varied length of time. Patients were compared for differences after being grouped into those who recently commenced treatment (< 4 years) and those on long term treatment (> 4 years). Next, cases were selected as to form two equivalent groups of HD and CAPD/PD patients in terms of length of treatment and sociodemographic variables. The groups consisted of: a) 41 in-centre haemodialysis (HD) and b) 48 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD/PD) patients, fitting the selection criteria of recent commencement of treatment and similar sociodemographic characteristics. Patient-reported assessments included: WHOQOL-BREF, GHQ-28 and the MHLC, which is a health locus of control inventory. Results. Differences in mean scores were mainly observed in the HD patients with > 4 years of treatment, providing lower mean scores in the QoL domains of physical health, social relationships and environment, as well as in overall mental health. Differences in CAPD/PD groups, between those in early and those in later years of treatment, were not found to be large and significant. Concerning the analysis on equivalent groups derived from selection of cases, HD patients indicated significantly lower mean scores in the QoL domain of environment and higher scores in the GHQ-28 subscales of anxiety/insomnia and severe depression, indicating more symptoms in these areas of mental health. With regards to illness beliefs, HD patients who recently commenced treatment provided higher mean scores in the dimension of internal health locus of control, while CAPD/PD patients on long term treatment indicated higher mean scores in the dimension of chance. Regarding differences in health beliefs between equivalent groups of HD and CAPD/PD patients, HD patients focused more on the dimension of internal health locus of control. Conclusion. The results provide evidence that patients in HD treatment modality, particularly those with many years of treatment, were experiencing a more compromised QoL in comparison to CAPD/PD patients. © 2008 Ginieri-Coccossis et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

A psychoanalytically oriented combined treatment approach for severely disturbed borderline patients: The Athens project

A psychoanalytically oriented combined treatment is considered beneficial for severely disturbed borderline patients, especially during an acute crisis. The proposed treatment comprises hospitalization and specialized psychotherapeutic inpatient treatment, individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and psychiatric management. It is important to take into account that during inpatient treatment, protective identifications and splitting mechanisms are activated, involving different members of the therapeutic personnel or other patients. The mental health team-the psychiatrist, the nurses, the assigned psychotherapist, and other members of the therapeutic personnel-should work together in the context of teamwork in order to explore transference and countertransference manifestations. This function promotes empathy and understanding of the patient's inner dificulties. A combined treatment approach can help the patient stabilize his or her condition and develop awareness and motivation for undertaking long-term treatment and individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, with the prospect that therapy will be maintained after the patient's discharge