Burn survivors' perceptions regarding relevant sexual education strategies

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the unique issues childhood burn survivors experience in relation to sex education and sexual development. Design/methodology/approach - Using a phenomenological approach, participants described their lived experiences with regards to sex education and the sexuality issues they encountered as child burn survivors. One-to-one semi-structured interviews and a focus group were used to gather data, which were analyzed using a constant comparison method. Findings - Results provide educators with better insight into the experiences of burn survivors as well as strategies for approaching sex education. Findings centered around five areas: exposure, sex education content, timing of sex education, characteristics of the educator and most appropriate methods of delivery. Research limitations/implications - Sexuality is a value-laden topic that has the potential to increase apprehension and decrease willingness to discuss. As a result, the sample may not be wholly representative across age groups, concerns or social attitudes regarding sexuality present within this population. Additional limitations are also noted. Future studies, which utilize a mixed method approach with a larger sample of both adolescent and adult burn survivors, would increase the value and generalizability of the findings. Originality/value - Research findings confirm that persons living with childhood burn injuries experience similar feelings and concerns regarding their sexuality as their able-bodied peers which contradict social views. However, mainstream sex education falls short of addressing their unique needs and as such this study's findings provide strategies to allow for appropriate knowledge acquisition to ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.