431 Through the Eyes of Burn-Injured Youth - How Burn Camp Helps Survivors Thrive

Abstract

Improvement in acute burn care has increased the probability of survival of severely burned children who often experience disfigurement and physical/emotional pain. Recreational camps whose goal is to help them deal with their burn injuries have existed for several decades. This includes helping burned children cope with disfigurement and the psycho/social challenges of burn survival. Few studies have delineated the actual benefits of camp from the participants’ point of view. This study asked attendees to identify and rank reasons they would recommend camp attendance to a burn-injured peer. Burn-injured youth attending four regional burn camps completed a survey asking, “If you were to invite a burn survivor to burn camp how would you rate the following 10 items recently identified by your burn peers as benefits of attending?” Items included Increased Confidence, Making Friends, Help with Scarring, No Judgement Zone, Supportive Counselors, Trying New Things, Being Part of a Community, Getting Away from Home and Being Outside. Participants rated each item on a scale of 1(Not at all) to 4 (Really a lot) and then chose the 3 most important benefits they get from burn camp. Participants (n=164) had a mean age of 13.7 years; female (n=88), male (n=74). The main cause of injury was fire/flame (40%) and scald (42%). The average age at burn was 6.1 yrs.; average years of attending camp was 4.6 and 76% had visible scars. All items received an average score of 3 or higher. The highest rated items were Increasing My Confidence (3.63) and Supportive Counselors (3.59). The lowest were, Time Away from Home (3.08) and Spending Time Outside (3.21). All items were ranked significantly higher than the two lowest ranking items (p=<001). The three responses endorsed as most important included Increasing My Confidence (46%), Making Friends-Building Connections (45%) and Helping Me Accept My Scars (44%). Campers endorsed many aspects of burn camp as positive. Importantly, the highest rated items support the development of meaningful relationships, which has been shown to buffer children from developmental disruption and help them adjust to trauma. The high levels of endorsement suggest that camp is helping children adjust to their burns in many ways, the key goal of burn camps. Burn care professionals should be proactive in encouraging pediatric patients to attend burn camp as it provides multiple reported benefits. Coordination between health care providers, survivors and parents in promoting attendance at burn camp is highly recommended by the very youth who espouse the benefits of attending.