Give burn survivors access to rehabilitation

We are thrilled to share an exciting collaboration that unfolded on September 5, as Sunshine Foundation welcomed medical professionals participating in the International Emergency Care & Burn Injuries Management training project, organized by the Taiwan International Healthcare Training Center (TIHTC).

Over the course of a dynamic two-week training program, dedicated medical practitioners from diverse corners of the globe, including Malaysia, St-Lucia, Mongolia, and beyond, delved into immersive experiences, visiting hospitals, and engaging in enlightening lectures on emergency care and burn management. As part of TIHTC's comprehensive training initiative, participants also had the opportunity of attending two lectures at Sunshine Foundation on September 5. These sessions specifically focused on burn rehabilitation and provided insights into the unique community-based service model of Sunshine's Taipei Rehabilitation Center.

This collaborative endeavor presented an invaluable opportunity for international medical professionals to interact and share with Sunshine's senior therapists. The topics covered included the intricacies of post-burn edema management and the application of pressure therapy to control post-burn hypertrophic scar growth. However, beyond the technical aspects, the visit also shed light on the critical rehabilitation journey that burn patients embark upon post-hospital discharge. It underscored the significance of establishing a robust community-based resource network to support burn patients throughout their extensive recovery process.

Sunshine Foundation takes immense pride in contributing its experience to this transformative training project organized by TIHTC. By synergizing efforts with like-minded organizations, our aim is to magnify the impact of this training initiative, extending its reach to empower burn care professionals across diverse nations.

We envision a future where our shared knowledge and experiences will create a global network of dedicated burn professionals to support burn patients, ensuring they receive comprehensive care and assistance throughout their recovery. We extend our gratitude to the visionary donors like you who make endeavors like these possible. Together, we are shaping a brighter, healthier future for burn survivors worldwide.

In May 2023, Sunshine Foundation launched its first online training program for Asian burn therapists. This first Asian program has built upon similar projects that we have been carrying out since 2021 for burn therapists in Latin America. The online course “Management of Hand Burns – Introduction and Basic Concepts” held online over a month in May presented knowledge and concepts to establish the base of rehabilitation of the burned hand, with an emphasis on developing clinical reasoning of the therapist, to better identify and prioritize problems and their cause, and thus establish clear treatment goals. A total of 54 burn professionals from 10 countries registered for this intensive course, including Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.

Knowledge to spur implementation of change

Throughout this course, participants learned about many important concepts related to burned hand rehabilitation, including how anatomy of the hand is linked to mechanism that cause deformity, and how blind spots in their practice can inadvertently contribute to worsening the problems they are trying to solve in the first place.

When burn therapists are equipped with knowledge to understand “why they do what they do” and “how to do it correctly,” they are empowered to re-examine their practice and implement changes that will benefit their patients. They can discuss with their team members and work together to implement early intervention, they can create protocols to ensure quality care, etc.

“My department has many patients with hand burns, however the concern about complications due to edema is not enough, so after this course I have some plans. For examples: updating my colleagues on hand burns complications and how to prevent them; Apply methods of hand positioning, use of splints and exercises in the acute and wound healing phase....”

- Participant from Vietnam

 “With the additional learnings and takeaway points, I can start echoing and teaching it to my trainees, apply it to actual cases. Another offshoot of this training on my end is to develop a protocol specifically burn rehabilitation of the hand.”

- Participant from the Philippines

Your ongoing support makes the production and implementation of these online trainings possible, and allows us to reach out to burn therapists across the region, without limits of time and distance. We hope that you will continue to support our training endeavors as we aim to develop more online trainings for our partners in Asia.