Mrs Gulsen Ellul1, Mrs Miriam Voortman1
1Alfred Health
Abstract:
Patient satisfaction with health care facilitates co-operation with care, increases patient engagement in treatment and is associated with better perceived health and psychological wellbeing (Kane et al., 1997; Jackson et al., 2000; Michaels et al., 2000; Sorlie et al., 2000).
Very few studies have been conducted to investigate patients’ satisfaction with burn care (Wikehult et al., 2008). In particular, there is no existing research regarding burns patients’ satisfaction with facial and neck burn rehabilitation. Speech pathology is responsible for the scar management of facial and neck burns at the Victorian Adult Burns Service, Australia. The aim of this review is to identify patients’ satisfaction with this intervention. A survey of all patients who sustained facial and neck burns during the period November 2015 to November 2016 was developed to investigate their experience. Patients included in the survey were at least three months post burn and had sustained partial thickness to full thickness facial and/or neck burns. Questions pertaining to: education provided, frequency of therapist contact, rehabilitative interventions, barriers to participation and satisfaction with recovery, were included in the survey. According to Aharony et al., patients who are more satisfied with their care have a greater likelihood of improving their health status (1993). This review will provide insight into burns patients’ experience with facial and neck burns and help to optimise speech pathology services and ensure maximum recovery for this patient group.
Biography:
Gulsen Ellul is a speech pathologist who has been working at the Victorian Adult Burns Service, The Alfred, in Melbourne since 2008. In 2011, she presented a paper at ANZBA titled ‘Orofacial contracture management- Consensus and variation in practice’ and since has had a collaborative publication with Concord Hospital Burns Unit titled ‘Orofacial contracture management: Current Practice in Australian and New Zealand adult burn units’. She continues to have a strong interest in improving speech pathology services in burn care.