LIBRE Survey Offers Insight Into Social Recovery
Written by Brian Kelter Jr. - Research Coordinator, Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model System on April 27, 2020
Becoming involved in the burn community and maintaining close personal relationships prior to and following a burn are two key factors that can positively influence social recovery, according to new research findings emerging from the LIBRE Profile.
The Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation (LIBRE) Profile is a cutting-edge survey that has been developed to track the progress of a burn survivor’s social recovery. The LIBRE Profile asks burn survivors questions about six different areas of social recovery:
Family and friends
Work and employment
Social activities
Social interactions
Romantic relationships
Sexual relationships
To create the LIBRE Profile, researchers working with the Phoenix Society asked over 600 burn survivors to take the survey in order to ensure the right questions about social recovery were being asked. Using survey responses from burn survivors across the country, survey questions were finalized and researchers were able to start digging deeper into the social impacts of a burn injury.
When I was introduced to the burn community, it changed the entire trajectory of my life... I had found a family.
Social Relationships
The findings of the first research studies using the LIBRE Profile are now emerging and highlight the importance of social relationships in recovery. For example, younger burn survivors who were married or living with a significant other scored better on the social activities and social interactions parts of the survey1. This highlights the positive effects of close personal relationships that were formed both prior to and following the injury on the healing journey.
Gender Differences
The survey also highlighted gender differences in recovery and found that men scored much higher in four of the six LIBRE scales: social interactions, work and employment, romantic relationships, and sexual relationships.2 There has been very little research looking at how recovery is different based on gender, and a better understanding of these issues will help those supporting recovery to address these issues in creating a better, more individualized system of burn care and support.
Burn Community Involvement
The benefits of involvement in the burn community, particularly for burn survivors, are already widely accepted and the LIBRE Profile data serves to underscore the importance. A study on burn advocacy and support networks showed a significant improvement in burn recovery among those who regularly attended and actively participated in peer-support groups and meetings.3 The researchers concluded that “attendees reported fewer restrictions in participating in social activities, relating and maintaining friendships, and dealing with strangers.”
“You want to be a part of something after your injury; this gives you a chance to experience that… you’re giving back, you get to help the community.”
These initial studies provided a wealth of information that helped launch the next phase of this exciting research: the LIBRE Journey Study. The goal of this study is to have 600 burn survivors answer relevant questions from the LIBRE Profile every six months over the course of two years. The answers provided in these surveys will be scored and tracked over time to determine how each individual participant is progressing in their social recovery after their burn injury.
We hope to establish trajectories of social growth (or growth curves) to help in personalizing and improving burn care and recovery programs for burn survivors. By joining the LIBRE Journey Study, you are helping us to help other burn survivors.
Want to learn more about LIBRE?
Learn more about LIBRE by watching our Facebook video with hosts Pam Peterson, RN, BSN, Diana Tenney, and Dr. Jeffery Schneider, MD!
To find out how to get involved, please contact the Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model System.
Email: BostonHarvardBIMS@partners.org
Phone: (617) 952-6302
Website: https://www.bh-bims.org/
Twitter: @BostonBurn_MS
Brian Kelter Jr. is a research coordinator for the Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model System and is currently working on the LIBRE Journey study, a project aiming to better understand the social aspects of healing and recovery following burn injury.
References
Ohrtman, E. A., Shapiro, G. D., Simko, L. C., Dore, E., Slavin, M. D., Saret, C., Amaya, F., Lomelin-Gascon, J., Ni, P., Acton, A., Marino, M., Kazis, L. E., Ryan, C. M., & Schneider, J. C. (2018). Social interactions and social activities after burn injury: A Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation (LIBRE) study. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 39(6),1022-1028. doi: 10.1093/jbcr/iry038
Levi, B., Kraft, C. T., Shapiro, G. D., Trinh, N-H. T., Dore, E. C., Jeng, J., Lee, A. F., Acton, A., Marino, M., Jette, A., Armstrong, E. A., Schneider, J. C., Kazis, L. E., & Ryan, C. M. (2018). The Associations of Gender with Social Participation of Burn Survivors: A Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation Profile Study. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 39(6), 915-922. doi:10.1093/jbcr/iry007
Grieve, B., Shapiro, G. D., Wibbenmeyer, L., Acton, A., Lee, A., Marino, M., Jette, A., Schneider, J. C., Kazis, L. E., & Ryan, C. M. (2017). Long-Term Social Reintegration Outcomes for Burn Survivors With and Without Peer Support Attendance: A Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation (LIBRE) Study. (2017). Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2017.10.007 [Epub ahead of print]
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