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

Abstract

Lay Summary[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]Burns camps are residential programmes for young people with burn injuries which allow them to meet others who have been through similar experiences, and try out a range of activities in a supportive environment. Previous research has evaluated several aspects of burn camp on young people, including self-esteem, social relationships and emotional/behavioural wellbeing, but has produced conflicting results. This may be because the questionnaires completed by the participants with burn injuries used in these studies were designed for the general population. The current evaluation therefore utilised three questionnaires designed specifically for the burns population with the young people, as well as a generic outcome measure with the parents. Twenty three young people completed questionnaires relating to their feelings about their appearance and social experiences, and twenty two parents completed questionnaires relating to their feelings about their children’s behaviour. Results in this evaluation were mixed. The evaluation indicated that, while parents rated their children’s behaviour as worse following the camp, the young people felt more positively about their appearance and social experiences after camp. As previous research has found that young people can struggle with their appearance and social situations following a burn injury, this evaluation suggests that a burn camp can be of benefit for these issues. However, it should be noted that significantly fewer participants completed the questionnaires at follow-up compared to the initial questionnaire. In addition, this evaluation did not include a comparison group of young people with burn injuries who did not attend burn camp.