An evaluation of the impact of a burn camp on children and young people's concerns about social situations, satisfaction with appearance and behaviour

Laura Armstrong-James, Julia Cadogan, Heidi Williamson, Nichola Rumsey, Diana Harcourt, Laura Armstrong-James, Julia Cadogan, Heidi Williamson, Nichola Rumsey, Diana Harcourt

Abstract

Introduction: This evaluation aimed to assess the impact of a burn camp on children and young people's concerns about social situations, satisfaction with appearance and behaviour.

Methods: Young people completed the Perceived Stigmatisation Questionnaire (PSQ), Social Comfort Questionnaire (SCQ) and Satisfaction with Appearance Scale (SWAP) one month before camp (n=23), on the last day of camp (n=21) and at a three-month follow-up (n=13). Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) one month before camp (n = 22) and at follow-up (n=12). Parents and young people also completed open-ended questions before camp and at the follow-up.

Results: Results in this evaluation were mixed. While parents' reported scores on the SDQ were poorer after camp, young people's reported outcomes on all three measures improved at the end of camp. PSQ and SWAP scores were maintained and improved, respectively, at the follow-up. Qualitative responses were generally consistent with these scores. Significant improvements were found between the scores before camp and at the three-month follow-up for both the SWAP and PSQ. These results indicate that the burn camp may help to improve young people's satisfaction with their appearance and concerns about social situations. However, there was no comparison group and there was a significant loss of participants at follow-up.

Conclusion: Burn camps may therefore offer a range of psychosocial benefits to young people with burn injuries. This was the first evaluation to demonstrate a positive impact of a burn camp on satisfaction with appearance and concerns about social situations using outcome measures validated with the burns population.

Keywords: Burn camp; intervention; parent; psychosocial; support; young people.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. However, the first author (LAJ) attended the burn camp as a volunteer.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Young people’s scores on the Perceived Stigmatisation Questionnaire.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Young people’s scores on the Social Comfort Questionnaire.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Young people’s scores on the Satisfaction with Appearance Scale.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Parents’ scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

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How to cite this article
    1. Armstrong-James L, Cadogan J, Williamson H, Nichola Rumsey, Harcourt D. An evaluation of the impact of a burn camp on children and young people’s concerns about social situations, satisfaction with appearance and behaviour. Scars, Burns & Healing, Volume 4, 2018. DOI: 10.1177/2059513118816219

Source: PubMed

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