Perceived Value of a Knowledge Translation Intervention Designed to Facilitate Burn Survivors’ Work Reintegration

Abstract

Returning to work can be challenging for burn survivors. Approximately 28% never return to any form of employment, resulting in lower health-related quality of life. Open communication has been identified as a facilitator for return to work (RTW). To ease the RTW process and promote communication with coworkers and employers a knowledge translation (KT) intervention was developed for burn survivors. Following its implementation, the impact on the RTW process was evaluated. This study was a cross-sectional, mixed methods study where burn survivors included in the KT intervention were compared with a control group. Control group participants were selectively invited so that the two groups’ mean age, sex, and percent total body surface area burned were similar. Semistructured interviews gathered information about their RTW process and outcomes. Qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis and quantitative data were summarized and compared using Mann–Whitney tests. Overall, both groups were satisfied with their RTW process. Participants from the control group identified more barriers related to support received, particularly at work, and reported more psychological symptoms such as posttraumatic stress disorder, self-consciousness, and discomfort with questions. Many participants from the KT group indicated the KT intervention gave them tools and information to provide others with a better understanding of their lived experience. It is possible that the KT intervention facilitated more open communication by empowering burn survivors to explain their situation on their own, thus reducing the prevalence of social and psychological barriers by allowing them to self-advocate for more support.

Supporting people experiencing a burn injury to return to work or meaningful activity: Qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis

“…A common strength among studies was relevant quotation usage to verify results. The six qualitative studies reported on 141 participants, with sample sizes ranging from 13 to 39 (Johnson et al, 2016;Lamble et al, 2019;Mansfield et al, 2014;Nguyen et al, 2016;Öster et al, 2010;Stergiou-Kita et al, 2014). All studies included adults between the ages of 20 and 59 years and the majority (80%) of participants were male.…”

“…The mean percentage total burn surface area (TBSA) of burn injuries was recorded by Johnson and colleagues (2016), Lamble and colleagues (2019), and Öster and colleagues (2010) and ranged from 14.3% to 29%. Five studies reported time since injury, which ranged from two months to over 10 years (Lamble et al, 2019;Mansfield et al, 2014;Nguyen et al, 2016;Öster et al, 2010;Stergiou-Kita et al, 2014). These studies also reported the percentage of participants who returned to work as ranging from 65% to 85%.…”

“…All six studies were considered high quality and were included (Public Health Resource Unit, 2002). In Section A, five studies scored 'Yes' for five of the six questions corresponding to high validity of results (Johnson et al, 2016;Lamble et al, 2019;Mansfield et al, 2014;Nguyen et al, 2016;. The only weakness was lack of consideration of the researcher-participant relationship.…”

“…Potential for complex impairments. Burn injuries resulted in various physical, cognitive and psychosocial impairments leading to functional limitations and difficulty performing work tasks (Lamble et al, 2019;Mansfield et al, 2014;Nguyen et al, 2016). Recovery timeframes, and therefore RTW, varied depending on the nature and degree of the injury and resulting impairments.…”

“…Emotional trauma experienced by some people with burn injury worsened RTW stress (Johnson et al, 2016;Lamble et al, 2019). Emotional challenges included feelings of dejection, fear, frustration and appearance-related self-consciousness (Johnson et al, 2016;Lamble et al, 2019). Questions about the injury or changes in appearance reminded people of their accident, causing added discomfort (Lamble et al, 2019).…”