The Consequences of Sustaining a Burn in Childhood: Reflections on Accessing a Vulnerable Population

Background: Vulnerability is important to determine because it dictates when specific research is merited, helps design research projects, determines the target population and sampling strategies, and aids identification of... [ view full abstract ]

Background: Vulnerability is important to determine because it dictates when specific research is merited, helps design research projects, determines the target population and sampling strategies, and aids identification of necessary protection measures. The target population of this study were parents/guardians of children who sustained a burn when they were five years or younger and were admitted to a burns unit in a large urban children’s hospital. The population was considered vulnerable because they had experienced substantial trauma alongside their child; their parenting had been re-investigated by the medical social worker; and because it is known that these parents/guardians are susceptible to post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression and feelings of guilt.

Aim: The aim of the overall study was to determine the outcomes of children who sustained a burn injury from the perspective of their parents/guardians. The aim of this paper is to critically reflect on the notion of vulnerability in research with this population.

Method: Ethical approval was sought and granted by the study hospital and third level institution and reflection on this process was achieved with the guidance of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle.

Findings: Three challenges were identified by presenting this research project to the ethics committee:
1. There was lack of documentation to identify particularly vulnerable groups of parents, rendering the application of exclusion criteria difficult.
2. An exploration of the literature on vulnerability led me to the discussion on labelling populations “vulnerable” and how this can sometimes suggest that researchers are more likely to do harm than good.
3. On reflection, this raises the issue of how ethical research is understood in institutional discourse at ethics reviews.

Conclusion and Implications: Recommendations for future research relate to ethics; documentation in regards to identifying particularly vulnerable persons; and the implications for researchers.