Assessment of the child
It is important to understand who is the child who has sustained the burn so you can tailor your intervention and treatment options.
Completing an initial assessment will assist in your overall understanding of the child’s occupational profile and guide your planning for intervention required. Important questions to ask include:
- What are the child’s typical occupational roles?
- What is the child’s typical routines?
- What are the child’s typical daily activities?
- What is the prominent feature in their current physical, cognitive and social development?
- Who is the child in the context of their family?
- What environments does the child engage/interact in?
Key Point
A burn means taking on a NEW occupational role as PATIENT.
For the child this may include:
- Taking medication for pain relief
- Going to theatre for wound debridement/closure and being separated from caregiver
- Staying overnight in hospital ward (different bed, sheets)
- Coping with medical procedures that might cause pain/discomfort:
- change of burns dressing
- cannula
- port flushes on burns dressings
- nasogastric tube (if concerns about nutrition)
- general observations (blood pressure, oximetry, temperature)
- Wearing a splint or compression garment
- Completing daily occupational therapy and physiotherapy sessions.
It is important to assess:
- What this will mean for the child?
- How will the child cope with these new task demands?
- What will the child require to promote their best performance with these tasks?
