Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Burns are a major problem in Low-Income Countries (LIC) and Low-Middle Income Countries (LMIC). Children in LIC have been identified as a burn injury at-risk group. Individuals experience severe psychological and physical distress as a result of burn injuries. However, burns are a systemic problem and their impact is not limited to the individual but impacts the family system as a whole. Therefore, effective post burn interventions for families of child burn survivors are key in order to assist the child burn survivor’s well-being and recovery. The present study hopes to 1) address some of the gaps in knowledge in burn interventions for families of child burn survivors and 2) identify promising psychosocial interventions. A systematic review of literature was conducted that focused on identifying burn interventions for families of child burn survivors. These interventions were evaluated in order to establish which interventions showed promise. This systematic review was conducted following the guidelines of the PRISMA Statement for Systematic Reviews. An integrated quantitative and qualitative appraisal tool was used to review the identified studies. All the available English-medium literature between 1990 and 2019 was reviewed for this study. A literature search was performed in EBSCOhost, Academic Search Complete, PsychArticles, CINAHL plus, Medline, ERIC, SocIndex and Health Source: Nursing/Academic edition. Five studies were identified which included psychosocial interventions for families of child burn survivors. Of these studies only two were of quantitative nature and indicated sufficient evidence with regards to outcomes and efficacy. Three studies were of qualitative nature and indicated subjective evaluation measures to assess efficacy. Interventions identified included a family burns camp, a support group for parents, a support website, a parent participation program during acute paediatric burns management, and a teaching manual. All five studies indicated a degree of efficacy however, support groups in conjunction with psycho-education groups with systemic focus appeared to show the most promise. It is recommended that researchers focus on using quantitative measures in future intervention studies to assist in measuring efficacy. Furthermore, context specific interventions for LIC should be considered.

The present investigation sought to explore the efficacy of stress inoculation in the management of pain with severely burned adults. Subjects were 16 adult burn patients randomly assigned to either the stress-inoculation or no-treatment comparison group. The focus of the analysis was the amount of change or improvement from pretreatment to posttreatment periods. The stress-inoculation group showed significant improvement on all nine dependent measures, while the no-treatment group improved significantly on only two (physical and emotional self-ratings). The overall comparison of the amount of change between groups revealed that the stress-inoculation group showed significantly greater improvement in pain management than the no-treatment group during this time. It was concluded that stress inoculation, as a flexible treatment package, was efficacious in the management of pain experience of burn patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate post-burn adjustment in light of the self-esteem of child burn survivors. The study attempted to assess the viability of using a single, explicit self-report measure of self-esteem (Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale) as an index of post-burn adjustment. It appears that pediatric burn patients do not suffer a compromised self-concept secondary to the burn injury and, rather, are successful in incorporating their post-burn state, physically and psychologically, into a positive self-concept. It is suggested that evaluation of overall self-esteem incorporate a comprehensive picture of post-burn adjustment, based upon psychological and physiological parameters. Further research is justified and suggestions for future examinations are presented.

L’éducation, la pédagogie, l’andragogie et l’apprentissage sont des concepts qui transcendent l’univers scolaire et universitaire. Ces derniers peuvent ainsi concerner la formation en milieu de travail, l’adaptation à un contexte nouveau, mais également la réadaptation. Ce projet de recherche vise ainsi à décrire et explorer l’impact du soutien par les pairs chez les grands brûlés sur le processus de réadaptation de ceux-ci. Nous savons en effet que les victimes de brûlures graves éprouvent de nombreuses difficultés quant à leur image corporelle (Kornhaber, Wilson, Abu-Qamar et McLean, 2014b), l’espoir que leur situation s’améliore, les deuils qu’ils ont à vivre et dans l’engagement dans leur traitement (Kovacs Burns, Bellows, Eigenseher et Gallivan, 2014; Ripper, Renneberg, Landmann, Weigel et Germann, 2009), pour lesquels le soutien par les pairs semble avoir un impact (Badger et Royse, 2010). Pour explorer ces impacts, un total de 24 personnes ayant subi des brûlures graves ont répondu à un questionnaire visant à explorer leur sentiment d’auto-efficacité général, la qualité de leur image corporelle, leur espoir et le rapport qu’ils ont avec les soins et traitements reçus afin de vérifier leur adhésion au traitement. Ceux ayant reçu une visite de patient ressource accompagnateur (PRA) et ceux qui n’en ont pas reçu ont été comparés quant aux résultats sur les échelles sur l’auto-efficacité, l’image corporelle et les soins et traitements à l’aide d’analyses inférentielles et descriptives. Une analyse qualitative des réponses aux questions ouvertes concernant l’impact perçu et prévu des visites selon le point de vue des victimes de brûlures a également été réalisée, entre autres afin de vérifier les impacts sur la perception d’espoir. Les résultats permettent de souligner l’apport informationnel et relationnel du soutien par les pairs chez les grands brûlés. / Education, pedagogy, andragogy and learning are concepts that transcend the school and academic spectrums. The latter may therefore relate to training in the workplace, adaptation to a new context, but also rehabilitation. This research project aims to describe and explore the impact of peer support for burn victims on their rehabilitation process. We know that victims of severe burns experience many difficulties with their body image (Kornhaber, Wilson, Abu-Qamar and McLean, 2014c), the hope that their situation gets better, the grief they have to go through and the commitment to their treatment (Kovacs Burns, Bellows, Eigenseher & Gallivan, 2014; Ripper, Renneberg, Landmann, Weigel & Germann, 2009), for which peer support seems to have an impact (Badger and Royse, 2010). To explore these impacts, a total of 24 people who suffered severe burns responded to a questionnaire aimed at exploring their general self-efficacy, the quality of their body image, their hope and the relationship they have with the care and treatment received in order to verify their adherence to treatment. Those who received an accompanying patient resource visit (APR) and those who did not receive them were compared in terms of results on the scales on self-efficacy, body image and care and treatment quantitatively with inferential analyzes. A qualitative analysis of the answers to open questions concerning the perceived and anticipated impact of the visits from the point of view of burn victims was also carried out to describe the impact on the perception of hope, among other things. The results highlight the informational and relational contribution of peer support among burn victims.

Les blessures de brûlures entrainent des conséquences importantes qui affectent grandement tous les aspects de la vie des personnes qui en sont victime. Par conséquent, le processus de guérison des survivants peut s'avérer long, complexe et particulièrement éprouvant. En ce sens, le soutien par les pairs semble constituer une source d'aide significative pour les personnes victimes de brûlures et participer positivement à plusieurs étapes clés du processus de guérison. À l'Unité des Grands brûlés du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de l'Université de Montréal, ces pairs sont nommés « patients ressources accompagnateurs » et ceux-ci sont amenés à rencontrer des patients ayant récemment vécu un évènement de brûlures afin de répondre à leurs questions et partager avec eux les différents savoirs expérientiels qu'ils ont acquis au fil de leur vécu de survivant. Le but de la présente étude consiste à explorer les perceptions des patients ressources accompagnateurs en interrogeant ceux-ci quant à leurs rôles auprès de patients victimes de brûlures graves. Cette étude a été conduite selon un devis qualitatif en s'inspirant de la méthodologie de théorisation ancrée proposée par Corbin et Strauss (2015). Suivant la constitution d'un échantillon théorique, deux entrevues de groupe ont été réalisées avec les patients ressources accompagnateurs (n=3 et n=7) œuvrant auprès des patients de l'Unité des Grands Brûlés du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de l'Université de Montréal. L'analyse des données a également été réalisée en suivant certaines des étapes de la méthodologie proposées par Corbin et Strauss (2015). L'exploration de la perception de patients ressources accompagnateurs de l'Unité des Grands Brûlés quant à leur rôle au sein de l'unité de soins contribue à la bonification du travail entrepris par une des co-directrices de ce mémoire quant à l’accompagnement des patients hospitalisés. De plus, les résultats de cette étude permettent de préciser plusieurs enjeux vécus par les personnes victimes de brûlures, apportant des éléments de réflexions pertinents quant à la manière dont ceux-ci font l'expérience des différentes étapes de leur trajectoire de soins et des difficultés que certaines de ces étapes peuvent entraîner dans le processus de guérison des survivants. L'ensemble des thématiques captées liées à la perception qu'ont les patients ressources accompagnateurs vis-à-vis leur rôle, permet de saisir la pluralité des enjeux à considérer et la diversité des éléments à intégrer dans les réflexions visant à tendre vers une amélioration des programmes d'interventions patients ressources accompagnateurs existants ou dans le développement de ceux à venir. / Burn injuries lead to major complications and consequences that affect the entire lives of those who are injured. Therefore, the healing process for survivors can be long, complex, and particularly challenging. In this sense, peer support seems to constitute a significant source of help for burn victims and positively participate in several key stages of the healing process. At the Burn Unit of the Université de Montréal Hospital Center, these peers are called "patient resource companions" who are trained and are brought in to meet with patients who have recently experienced a burn injury to answer their questions and share with them the different experiential knowledges they have gained through their experience as survivors. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of patient resource companions on their roles with patients suffering from severe burns. This study was conducted using a qualitative design inspired by the grounded theory methodology proposed by Corbin and Strauss (2015). Following the formation of a theoretical sample, two group interviews were conducted with patient resource companions (n=ti and n=7) working with patients at the Burn Unit of the Université de Montréal Hospital Center. Data analysis was also conducted following some of the different stages of the methodology proposed by Corbin and Strauss (2015). The exploration of the perception of patient resource companions at the Burn Unit regarding their role in the care unit contributes to the documentation and integration of a new dimension in the general framework of reference, of one of the co-supervisor’s research program on patient resource companions. In addition, the results of this study make it possible to specify several issues experienced by burn victims, providing relevant elements of reflection as to the way in which they experience the different stages of their care trajectory and the difficulties that some of these steps can entail in the healing process of survivors. All themes related to the perception that patient resource companions have of their role, makes it possible to grasp the plurality of issues to be considered and the diversity of elements to be integrated into the reflections aimed at tending towards an improvement of existing patient resource support intervention programs or in the development of future ones.