Inpatient peer support for adult burn survivors-a valuable resource: a phenomenological analysis of the Australian experience.

Peer support has long been recognised as an essential component of a supportive network for people facing adversity. In particular, burn survivor peer support is a valuable and credible resource available to those rehabilitating from a severe burn. The aim of this study was to explore burn survivors' experiences of providing and receiving inpatient peer support to develop an in-depth understanding of the influence during the rehabilitation journey. In 2011, twenty-one burn survivors were recruited from four severe burn units across Australia. A qualitative phenomenological methodology was used to construct themes depicting survivors' experiences. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling, and data collected through in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method of data analysis. Central to burn rehabilitation was the notion of peer support having a significant impact on burn survivors' psychosocial rehabilitation. The emergent theme 'Burn Survivor Peer Support' identified five cluster themes: (1) Encouragement, inspiration and hope (2) Reassurance (3) The Importance of Timing (4) The Same Skin (5) Appropriate Matching. These findings demonstrate that peer support assists with fostering reassurance, hope and motivation in burn rehabilitation. A national network based on a clinician led inpatient burn survivor peer support programme could provide burn survivors across Australia, and in particular remote access locations, with the benefits of peer support necessary to endure the rehabilitation journey.

Knowledge and practice of foot self-care among Jordanians with diabetes: an interview-based survey study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine knowledge and practice of foot care among Jordanian patients with diabetes. METHOD: An ethically-approved Arabic language questionnaire was used to interview participants recruited from five Jordanian governorates. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 16). Total scores for knowledge and practice were computed, and were classified as poor (<50%), satisfactory (50-70%) or good (>70%). RESULTS: Out of 1085 participants, 51.1% were males and 48.8% were females. The average age was 53.3 years (SD=13.3 years), with over half (54.0%) were between 41-60 years of age. More than half of knowledge scores were within the range 'good', in which there was around 6% of the practice scores. Those classified as having poor knowledge amounted to 7.2%, whilst those classified as exercising poor practice amounted to 42%. Statistically significant associations were established between level of education and knowledge (p<0.001) as well as practice (p<0.006). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated discrepancies between knowledge and practice in relation to foot care. Efforts are required to reduce these discrepancies between knowledge and the real practice of foot self-care, taking into account the patients' levels of education and the cultural context.

Coming to terms with it all: adult burn survivors' 'lived experience' of acknowledgement and acceptance during rehabilitation.

Although studies have explored the 'lived experience' of burn survivors, little is known about their experiences encountered during rehabilitation. A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted to gain an in-depth insight into burn survivors' experiences' of acknowledgement and acceptance of their injury and the challenges experienced during their rehabilitation journey. A descriptive phenomenological methodology was used to construct themes depicting how burn survivors endeavoured to acknowledge and accept their injury and subsequent altered body image. Twenty men and one woman up to eight years after-burn within Australia were selected through purposeful sampling, and data were collected through in-depth individual interviews conducted in 2011 (N = 21). Interviews were analysed using Colaizzi's method of data analysis. The emergent theme acknowledgement identified four cluster themes that represented how burn survivors came to terms with their injury and an altered body image: (1) reasoning (2) humour (3) the challenge of acceptance (4) self-awareness. Coming to terms with a severe burn is a challenging experience. Reasoning and humour are strategies utilised by burn survivors that facilitate with acknowledgement and acceptance. Understanding these concepts through the burn survivors' perspective will, potentially, facilitate a better understanding of how to best provide for this cohort of patients.

Adult burn survivors' personal experiences of rehabilitation: an integrative review.

Burn rehabilitation is a lengthy process associated with physical and psychosocial problems. As a critical area in burn care, the aim was to systematically synthesise the literature focussing on personal perceptions and experiences of adult burn survivors' rehabilitation and to identify factors that influence their rehabilitation. Studies were identified through an electronic search using the databases: PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO and Trove of peer reviewed research published between 2002 and 2012 limited to English-language research with search terms developed to reflect burn rehabilitation. From the 378 papers identified, 14 research papers met the inclusion criteria. Across all studies, there were 184 participants conducted in eight different countries. The reported mean age was 41 years with a mean total body surface area (TBSA) burn of 34% and the length of stay ranging from one day to 68 months. Significant factors identified as influential in burn rehabilitation were the impact of support, coping and acceptance, the importance of work, physical changes and limitations. This review suggests there is a necessity for appropriate knowledge and education based programmes for burn survivors with consideration given to the timing and delivery of education to facilitate the rehabilitation journey.

A region of barley chromosome 6H harbors multiple major genes associated with net type net blotch resistance.

Net type net blotch (NTNB), caused by Pyrenophora teres f. teres Drechs., is prevalent in barley growing regions worldwide. A population of 118 doubled haploid (DH) lines developed from a cross between barley cultivars 'Rika' and 'Kombar' were used to evaluate resistance to NTNB due to their differential reaction to various isolates of P. teres f. teres. Rika was resistant to P. teres f. teres isolate 15A and susceptible to isolate 6A. Conversely, Kombar was resistant to 6A, but susceptible to 15A. A progeny isolate of a 15A x 6A cross identified as 15A x 6A#4 was virulent on both parental lines. The Rika/Kombar (RK) DH population was evaluated for disease reactions to the three isolates. Isolate 15A induced a resistant:susceptible ratio of 78:40 (R:S) whereas isolate 6A induced a resistant:susceptible ratio of 40:78. All but two lines had opposite disease reactions indicating two major resistance genes linked in repulsion. Progeny isolate 15A x 6A#4 showed a resistant:susceptible ratio of 1:117 with the one resistant line also being the single line that was resistant to both 15A and 6A. An RK F(2) population segregated in a 1:3 (R:S) ratio for both 15A and 6A indicating that resistance is recessive. Molecular markers were used to identify a region on chromosome 6H that harbors the two NTNB resistance genes. This work shows that multiple NTNB resistance genes exist at the locus on chromosome 6H, and the recombinant DH line harboring the resistance alleles from both parents will be useful for the development of NTNB-resistant barley germplasm.