Narrative discourse of burn injury and recovery on peer support websites: A qualitative analysis

Although advances have been made in burn care and recovery, less is known about the experience of living with severe burn injury. Like other patient groups, burn survivors are now turning to social media and shared web-based peer support resources during recovery and continuing long after discharge. Ongoing peer support is often part of the reclamation process after-burn injury. Peer support and event sharing helps foster hope, motivation and reassurance.

To: 1) Examine and further understand the narrative discourse of burn survivorship in peer support social media content, 2) establish commonalities in the sharing community and key themes related to recovery and adaptation.

This qualitative enquiry began with a comprehensive overview of burn narratives on survivor peer generated websites. We conducted a purposeful sampling of 21 biographies posted on burn survivor peer and patient support websites. Participants with greater than 30% burn injury were included that provided narrative and discourse regarding burn recovery and survivorship. Underlying story arcs, meaning behind sentences and shared language of the experience were investigated using thematic analysis.

Four themes were identified: retelling of the traumatic event; social support; body image, the new normal; and rebirth and transformation. Accounts reflected the traumatic nature of the event with slowed downtime, attention to details and heightened recall. The value of peer and family support was a common theme. There was attention to the challenges related to changed body image and regaining confidence in body appearance. Most stories also documented transitioning and rebirth and other more positive aspects of trauma recovery.

Accounting the burn experience and recovery is part of the reclamation process. Biographies document the trauma recovery process. Storying the event is an integral component of burn survivor community content. These online communities have become a mainstream resource and part of the reclamation process.