Ms Lisa Martin¹, Dr Michelle Byrnes², Dr Sarah McGarry³, Professor Suzanne Rea^1,4, Professor Fiona Wood^1,4

¹Burn Injury Research Unit, University Of Western Australia, ²Clinical Psychology Research Unit, Western Australian Neuroscience Research Institute, ³School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University, ⁴WA Health, Burns Unit, Fiona Stanley Hospital

Abstract:
Some patients have the capacity to identify positive psychological changes after a burn injury.  These changes might be affected by burn severity, burn location, and recovery trajectories [1-4]. In addition, there are specific changes in thinking that affect postburn coping, and there are a number of potential ways these could be influenced. The potential interventions that have the potential to promote growth, improve coping and facilitate better recovery can be either patient-led, clinician-led, or psychology-led and are discussed here as potential future research interventions to improve post burn psychological recovery.

[1] Martin L, Byrnes M, McGarry S, Rea S, Wood F. Evaluation of the posttraumatic growth inventory after severe burn injury in Western Australia: Clinical implications for use. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2016;10:1-8.

[2] Martin L, Byrnes M, McGarry S, Rea S, Wood F. Social challenges of visible scarring after severe burn: A qualitative analysis. Burns. 2017;43:76-83.

[3] Martin L, Byrnes M, McGarry S, Rea S, Wood F. Posttraumatic growth after burn injury in adults: An integrative literature review. Burns. 2017;43:459-70.

[4] Martin L, Byrnes M, McGarry S, Rea S, Wood F. Quality of life and posttraumatic growth after burn injury. under peer review. 2017.

Biography:
Lisa is a research fellow from the Burn Injury Research Unit at the University of Western Australia.  She has a nursing background and is currently a PhD student undertaking a mixed method study that assesses positive psychological recovery after burn.