Masters Degrees (Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies) by Subject "Burns and scalds -- Psychological aspects"

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    Primary caregivers' evaluation of a burns rehabilitation programme at the Red Cross Childrens' Hospital
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005-04) Parbhoo, A; Mji, G.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Centre for Rehabilitation Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A bum injury is an injury for life, causing scarring on a physical, emotional and psychological level. For these individuals, rehabilitation is a vital aspect of regaining their lives. The bums unit at the Red Cross Children's Hospital aims to provide a comprehensive health care service to all children who have suffered from a bum injury. The service is enveloped by an interdisciplinary team approach to management. The burns team perceives the rehabilitation programme to be an effective one, but this has never been evaluated. The researcher has the perception that the primary caregivers are the people who could evaluate the bums unit at the Red Cross Children's Hospital. Hence the aim of this study was to determine how primary caregivers evaluated the rehabilitation of a child at the burns unit of the Red Cross Children's Hospital. The design of the study was of a retrospective, descriptive and analytical nature. The study population consisted of all primary caregivers of patients who have been managed in the burns unit at the Red Cross Children's Hospital, from the period of 1 June 2001 to 30 July 2003. A sample size of 30 primary caregivers, who suited the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were randomly chosen. They were all interviewed using questionnaires that were compiled by the researcher. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected during the interviews. Results on the evaluation of aspects such as management in hospital, caregiver involvement, discharge planning and rehabilitation outcome, showed that primary caregivers found most aspects to be satisfactory at the burns unit of Red Cross Children's Hospital. The scores on the level of satisfaction of the above aspects were between 86% and 100% for management, between 94%-97% for discharge planning, 97% for caregiver involvement, and 75%-100% for rehabilitation outcome. Factors that were reported to be unsatisfactory were pain management, the child's psychological outcome and service and fit of pressure garments. Recommendations regarding pain management and reintegration of the child into the community were made to team members of the unit. The urgent need for a full time psychologist was advocated to the hospital management. These recommendations were based on the findings of this study.