Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1991. / Title from title page screen, viewed January 3, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Edward R. Hines (chair), Patricia H. Klass, Franklin G. Matsler, Jeanne B. Morris, George Padavil. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-130) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-228).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-125).

No description available.

M.A. / This study investigates the role that art plays in the lives of lay counselors in identifying and coping with burnout. This study was executed within the framework of a community psychological context. Art is not used solely as therapy neither is it only used in therapy. This author accepts Mills and Crowley's (1986) living benefits approach. This approach states that art can be used pragmatically to visually represent a problem area in a persons live as well as the solution to the problem. With regards to burnout art can be used to identify burnout symptoms on an individual, interpersonal and organizational level and in the five areas of affect, behaviour, cognition, physical and motivation. The living benefits approach goes one step further by stating that individuals have the intrinsic ability to use art to identify mechanisms that will help them to resolve problem areas in their lives. Art is used as an intermedium between therapy and art to facilitate conversation. Art is the main changing agent that motivates individuals to change their perceptions en later on their coping mechanisms in response to a problem. The results of this study can be used to create a primary prevention program. This program can focus on teaching individuals interpersonal cognitive coping mechanisms as will be seen in the literature study on competence building.

Biofilm formation within burn wounds pose numerous health-related problems as they prolong recovery, inhibit antimicrobial treatments, and serve as a reservoir to spread new infections. In the United States alone there are half a million burn wounds each year. These burn wounds result in tens of thousands of patients to be admitted to hospitals and thousands of deaths. Burn wound infections alone account for over half of these deaths. Currently, standard models of burn wound biofilms, both in-vivo and in-vitro, have their benefits and limitations. These models include skin explants, animal models, and complex growth media. For the examination of microbial biofilms and rapid screening of potential antimicrobial topical treatments, a physiologically relevant media that more closely mimics what would be found in the host’s tissue would be advantageous. This pilot study was conducted to examine different formulations of a synthetic tissue-like media, the biofilm growth of common burn wound infectious microbes, and served as a high-throughput means of testing current and potentially new antimicrobials. Our laboratory has begun characterizing a new antimicrobial gel and its ability to eradicate microorganisms that commonly infect burn wounds, specifically focusing on the common wound microbe Staphylococcus aureus. Utilizing a constitutively expressed green fluorescent protein, both the growth on the textured media, as well as, biofilm inhibition by the antimicrobial gel showed significant reduction in S. aureus. On a molecular level, we examined biofilm gene expression, via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, of adhesion, quorum sensing, and drug resistance markers in our new model in conjunction with our antimicrobial gel. Our new synthetic wound-like media supported the growth of S. aureus and was successful in its ability to quickly screen different formulations of topical antimicrobial treatments. The antimicrobial gel produced significant reduction of S. aureus burden. The results of this study indicate that our formulated synthetic burn wound media model supports microbial growth, is efficient in the ability to rapidly screen antimicrobials, and could lead to a better understanding of the etiology of burn wound infections.

INTRODUCTION: Due to medical advancements the rate at which individuals are surviving burns has increased; these improvements in survival rates have led to an increased need for research focused on social reintegration among individuals post-burn in order to improve their reintegration back into society and their psychosocial wellbeing (Attoe & Pounds-Cornish, 2015). DESCRIPTION: The aim of this project was to evaluate the social reintegration program in place at the Firefighter Burn Center at Regional One Health. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated through the use of three questionnaires that focused on quality of life, satisfaction with services, and importance in supports during the rehabilitation process. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE AND EVIDENCE: The theoretical perspectives utilized in the social reintegration program at this site are the Person-Environment-Occupation Model and the social cognitive theory. These theories interact to form the foundation of the social reintegration program and provide explanation for why the mechanisms of action of the reintegration program are effective. RESULTS: Data analysis was conducted and compared with published data from burn units throughout the country. Results revealed that participates at the site reported higher levels of satisfaction with services provided related to reintegration. It also revealed, that compared to published data from similar peers, the individuals at the site had clinically significant positive results for social reintegration and quality of life outcomes. CONCLUSION: The evaluation revealed the effectiveness of a social reintegration program. The project highlights the important characteristics of a program include: goal-setting, peer support, and being treated in an environment with other individuals with burns.

No description available.

With the decrease in burn mortality following improved burn care facilities and methods, burn survivors are often left with residual physical and psychosocial consequences that they have to cope with requiring adaptation and modification of lifestyle. Burn survivors habitually receive excellent treatment for their wounds while in hospital but may experience challenges due to disruption of care and rehabilitation after discharge. This aim of the study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of burn survivors’ adaptation post hospital discharge. A qualitative, hermeneutic, phenomenological design using an interpretive framework was used. A purposeful sampling was used in the selection of nine participants who were above 18 years and had been admitted to the Limpopo Burn Unit while still undergoing reviews at the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using unstructured open-ended questions. Data were analysed using the Colaizzi’s strategy. Three main themes emerged from the data, along with sub-themes. (a)The burn survival experience involved the person in totality with reference to their internal and external environment. (b)The process of recovery was lengthy and started in hospital and continued post discharge at home. (c) Reclaiming their life and finding new meaning was a process of adaptation. The core of the participants’ needs included the need for the care and rehabilitation of the whole person in terms of their physical and psychosocial aspects, the importance of the survivor’s involvement in his/her care, and the rehabilitation. Health care personnel and family support during this difficult time should be available in order to enable the survivors to cope and adapt effectively and reclaim their lives. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

<p>Accurate assessment of burn injuries is critical for the correct management of such wounds. Depending on the total body surface area affected by the burn, and the severity of the injury, the optimal treatment and the surgical requirements are selected. However, such assessment is considered a clinical challenge. In this thesis, to address this challenge, an automatic framework to segment the burn using RGB images, and classify the injury based on the severity using ultrasound images is proposed and implemented. With the use this framework, the conventional assessment approach, which relies exclusively on a physical and visual examination of the injury performed by medical practitioners, could be complemented and supported, yielding accurate results. The ultrasound data enables the assessment of internal structures of the body, which can provide complementary and useful information. It is a noninvasive imaging modality that provides access to internal body structures that are not visible during the typical physical examination of the burn. The semantic segmentation module of the proposed approach was evaluated through one experiment. Similarly, the classification module was evaluated through two experiments. The second experiment assessed the effects of incorporating texture features as extra features for the classification task. Experimental results and evaluation metrics demonstrated the satisfactory results obtained with the proposed framework for the segmentation and classification problem. Therefore, this work acts as a first step towards the creation of a Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Detection system for burn injury assessment.</p>