Telethon Kids Institute, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
PLoS One. 2024 Feb 15;19(2):e0294237. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294237. eCollection 2024.
One of the most traumatic injuries a child can experience is a severe burn. Despite improvements in medical treatments which have led to better physical outcomes and reduced mortality rates for paediatric burns patients, the psychological impact associated with experiencing such a traumatic injury has mostly been overlooked. This is concerning given the high incidence of psychopathology amongst paediatric burn survivors.
This project will aim to pilot test and evaluate a co-designed trauma-focused intervention to support resilience and promote positive mental health in children and adolescents who have sustained an acute burn injury. Our first objective is to collect pilot data to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention and to inform the design of future trauma-focussed interventions. Our second objective is to collect pilot data to determine the appropriateness of the developed intervention by investigating the changes in mental health indicators pre- and post-intervention. This will inform the design of future interventions.
This pilot intervention study will recruit 40 children aged between 6-17 years who have sustained an acute burn injury and their respective caregivers. These participants will have attended the Stan Perron Centre of Excellence for Childhood Burns at Perth Children's Hospital. Participants will attend a 45-minute weekly or fortnightly session for six weeks that involves building skills around information gathering, managing reactions (behaviours and thoughts), identifying, and bolstering coping skills, problem solving and preventing setbacks. The potential effects and feasibility of our intervention will be assessed through a range of age-appropriate screening measures which will assess social behaviours, personal qualities, mental health and/or resilience. Assessments will be administered at baseline, immediately post-intervention, at 6- and 12-months post-intervention.
The results of this study will lay the foundation for an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach to clinical care for paediatric burn survivors and their families in Western Australia. This will have important implications for the design of future support offered to children with and beyond burn injuries, and other medical trauma populations.
儿童可能经历的最具创伤性的伤害之一是严重烧伤。尽管医学治疗的进步导致儿科烧伤患者的身体结果更好，死亡率降低，但与经历如此创伤性伤害相关的心理影响大多被忽视。鉴于儿科烧伤幸存者中精神病理学的高发率，这令人担忧。
本项目旨在试点测试和评估一项共同设计的以创伤为重点的干预措施，以支持急性烧伤儿童和青少年的适应能力并促进其心理健康。我们的第一个目标是收集试点数据，以评估干预措施的效果，并为未来以创伤为重点的干预措施提供信息。我们的第二个目标是收集试点数据，通过调查干预前后心理健康指标的变化，确定开发干预措施的适当性。这将为未来的干预措施设计提供信息。
这项试点干预研究将招募 40 名年龄在 6-17 岁之间的急性烧伤儿童及其各自的照顾者。这些参与者曾在珀斯儿童医院的斯坦·佩伦卓越儿童烧伤中心就诊。参与者将参加为期六周的每周或每两周一次的 45 分钟课程，其中包括围绕信息收集、管理反应（行为和想法）、识别和增强应对技能、解决问题和防止挫折等方面的技能建设。通过一系列适合年龄的筛选措施评估我们干预措施的潜在效果和可行性，这些措施将评估社交行为、个人品质、心理健康和/或适应能力。评估将在基线时、干预后立即、干预后 6 个月和 12 个月进行。
这项研究的结果将为西澳大利亚州儿科烧伤幸存者及其家庭的基于证据、以创伤为中心的临床护理方法奠定基础。这对于设计未来为烧伤儿童及其他医疗创伤人群提供的支持将具有重要意义。
