PARENTS in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire of children who have suffered burn injuries are being sought for an academic research project.

The study, which is being conducted at the University of the West of England, aims to establish what support parents are given, and what they find most useful, by surveying mothers and fathers about the support, or absence of support, they received when their son or daughter was injured.

Dr Jennifer Heath, a PhD researcher at the world-renowned Centre for Appearance Research based at UWE Bristol, who is leading the research said: “I would like to establish the extent to which avenues of support are accessed by parents, why they are accessed and whether they are beneficial.

“I would also like to establish what type of support parents would find most useful, and at what stage after the burn injury it would be best for services to offer such support.”

Dr Heath, a clinical psychologist who has worked in an adult burns unit, is carrying out the research because it could contribute to service developments which might benefit patients and their families.

She added: “All parents who have a child who has suffered but survived a burn injury requiring hospital treatment are invited to participate. I am recruiting parents from all over the country. Either both parents, or just one, can participate in the research.

“It doesn’t matter when the injury took place - this means some burn-injured ‘children’ may in fact be adults. Parents of burn-injured adults are not excluded from the study.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the study can read the study information and complete the consent form found at http://tinyurl.com/parents-support-1 or contact Dr Heath directly at jennifer3.heath@uwe.ac.uk