Assisting people who ‘self treat’ wounds

Suzanne Kapp, wound management nurse and PhD student is leading this study, which considers a health condition that is poorly recognised and understood in the community – chronic wounds (or breaks in the skin that take more than four weeks to heal).

Chronic wounds affect 2% of Australians and are even more common among people as they age. Chronic wounds are associated with every one of the Australian National Health Priority Areas – the conditions that have the greatest impact on the health and wellbeing of Australians.

“Chronic wounds cause significant pain and suffering and cost the Australian healthcare system $2.85 billion each year. Wound dressing products are not routinely subsidised in Australia therefore the out of pocket expense for the person with the wound is also significant,” Ms Kapp says.

“Many people think that wounds that do not heal are a normal part of ageing, which is very often not the case. The right advice and correct treatment often prevents wounds becoming chronic and speeds up the healing process,” she adds.

Chronic wound treatment involves wound cleansing, wound dressings and sometimes other therapies such as compression therapy and pressure redistribution. Sometimes people self treat their wounds and sometimes people receive treatment from a health professional. Sometimes people self treat and also receive professional treatment or assistance from a carer or family member.

This study is asking people who self treat chronic wound(s) to complete one survey (either online, on paper or over the phone). People are sought from metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas across Australia. This study will describe self treatment of chronic wounds in the community and inform the development of educational resources to assist people to self treat.

Who is eligible to participate?

To participate you must be:

• Aged 18 years and older
• Have a wound that is more than four weeks old
• Self treat the wound (i.e. cleanse it, or apply/remove a wound dressing, or apply/remove compression therapy)

You can participate even if:

• The wound is small
• You have only self treated for a short while
• You only conduct some self treatment activities
• Someone assists you with self treatment
• Sometimes a healthcare professional does your wound treatment.

Would you like to participate? Or do you know someone who may be eligible?

There are three ways to contact the researchers:

• Via the study web site www.selftreatmentofwounds.net
• By email skapp@student.unimelb.edu.au  
• Phone or text Suzanne Kapp on 0412 972 106