One-stop burn survivors toolkit project awarded MRFF Grant

Associate Professor Zephanie Tyack, from the Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation and QUT Centre for Healthcare Transformation, has been awarded $992,441 from the Medical Research Future Fund Survivorship Care and Collaborative Research Prioritisation Grant program for the project, ‘Ember to Empower’: developing and piloting a one-stop burn recovery toolkit for burn survivors.

For burn survivors and their families, navigating access to post-acute support, resources and follow-up processes is challenging. Professor Tyack said the project aimed to develop and pilot a novel recovery toolkit called ‘Ember to Empower’ to address these issues, identified as a high priority by burn survivors. The toolkit will be able to be accessed by burn survivors at any time in their recovery, wherever they live in Australia.

“A consumer advisory group of burn survivors who are part of the Australian New Zealand Burn Association (ANZBA) will advise on all aspects of the study,” Professor Tyack said.

Two burn survivors, Dale Trevor and Charlotte Brown, who are chief investigators on the project, will play a major role and continue to co-develop the study.

The toolkit will comprise education, resources, links to services, burn support groups and burn camp programs nationally and research opportunities.

Chief investigator and burn survivor Charlotte Brown said that the MRFF grant for ‘Ember to Empower’ will be a game changer for burn survivors like her.

“This toolkit will combine evidence-based resources for physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation into one accessible platform, streamlining our journey from acute care to long-term recovery.” Charlotte Brown said.

Chief investigator Dale Trevor, who is also a burn survivor, said that helping people with sudden trauma that lasts for a long time requires an ability to impart the fight to live and the fight to build the best new life that you can.

“Problems with pain, self-image and doubt about your future are things that every burn survivor needs to face. When great support and real purpose returns to your life you can embrace a new start and a new life after a horrific accident. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The MRFF grant ‘Ember to Empower’ will build the tools to do this.” Dale Trevor said.

Associate Professor Tyack said it would be the first toolkit or program to have been developed with burn survivors across Australia to comprehensively address their post-acute needs. The toolkit will empower burn survivors to optimise their recovery and reduce national variation in the support available to them, with a plan for full-scale implementation and evaluation of the toolkit nationally to be developed at the end of the project.

The chief investigators are Associate Professor Tyack and Associate Professor Leila Cuttle from QUT; Professor Fiona Wood and Dr Lisa Martin from University of Western Australia; Dale Trevor; Professor Belinda Gabbe from Monash University; Charlotte Brown; Dr Martha Druery; Dr Alexandra De Young from The University of Queensland; and Associate Professor Dale Edgar from The University of Notre Dame Australia.

Associate investigators are: Dr Jessica Killey from QUT; Associate Professor Rachel Kornhaber from Charles Sturt University; Dr Andrea McKittrick from Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital; Akane Katsu from Royal North Shore Hospital; Siobhan Connolly from Agency for Clinical Innovation; and Associate Professor Megan Simons, Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Main photo (left to right): Charlotte Brown and Dale Trevor

Read the QUT news story.