Wellbeing study

Investigators:

Prof Helen Milroy, Dr Alix Woolard, Prof Fiona Wood, Prof Ashleigh Lin, Dr Lisa Martin, Nicole Wickens, Elmie Janse van Rensberg, and Lisa McGivern

Project description:

Burns are a common cause of emergency presentations, and most burn injuries happen to children and adolescents. Children who experience a burn injury are significantly more likely to develop poor mental health outcomes compared to a non-injured population, regardless of how severe the burn injury is. We think this is due to many factors, such as long hospital stays, scarring, and painful wounds that can take a long time to heal. It is important to provide good psychological care after a burn injury, however this is not always the case, and limited research has been done in understanding the psychological outcomes of burn injuries for children. 

• Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth after Burn: A Review of Barriers, Enablers, and Interventions to Improve Psychological Recovery
• The psychological impact of paediatric burn injuries: a systematic review

Our team on the Wellbeing project are trying to understand the psychological outcomes of a burn injury and are employing a brief co-designed trauma-focused intervention to help children and their families build up resilience and good mental health following a burn injury.

More information: Please contact Alix Woolard on (08) 6319 1823 or alix.woolard@telethonkids.org.au

Funders of the project:

Channel 7 Telethon Trust