Adolescents' perceptions of participation in a burn patient support group

This study was designed to access the discerned value of the group experience for participants in a voluntary, open group led by a mental health professional to acute burn and reconstructive adolescent surgical inpatients and outpatients. It assessed the perceptions of participants about the reasons for their group attendance, therapeutic gains achieved from this experience, and their feelings about the group's value to other burn survivors. The responses validated the importance of using group support for burn survivors. Gains cited were the opportunity to define for others and selves how a person copes with being burned (65%), meeting others who had similar experiences (60%), expression of feelings about having been burned (50%), and learning new coping skills (45%). Ninety percent of the respondents would recommend the group to others and stated they would attend a similar group again.