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.