Preserving Self-Concept in the Burn Survivors: A Qualitative Study

Background: Burn injury is a devastating experience affecting all aspects of a person′s essence, including his/her identity and perception. These patients require complex cognitive efforts to redefine their identity to deal with difficult condition after burn injury and preserve self-concept. The experience of life after burn injury is generally a solitary one, closely related to the patients′ cultural and religious context. Therefore, this study was conducted aiming at investigating burn patients′ experiences regarding how to preserve self-concept in life after burn injury in Iran. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was carried out using qualitative content analysis and in-depth unstructured interviews with 17 surviving burn subjects. Results: During the qualitative content analysis process, the concept of "locating" as the essence of the participants′ experience was extracted as follows: (A) self-exploration (exploring the changes in one′s life), (B) others′ exploration (exploring the changes in the life of family members and the relationship between self and others), (C) position evaluation (self-position analysis), and (D) self-concept preservation. Conclusion: The present study has developed new understandings of mental experiences of burn patients′ self-concept by describing the concept of "self-locating." It helps us in classifying and understanding the concepts described in comprehensive theories developed in this area. They do this by focusing on what burn patients experience for choosing self-preservation strategies and having a meaningful life. The finding can be used as a conceptual framework for palliative care program in Iran.