La seconda pelle: testimonianze di un gruppo di pazienti con esiti di ustione grave in età pediatrica.

In the present phenomenological hermeneutic study the life experience of 5 young adults who suffered severe burns in early childhood was explored with a biographical interview. Testimonies documented the relevant impact of this traumatic event across the entire life-span of the patients. In particular the present results are focused on the supportive and protective factors that helped the patients to cope with the acute stress and the subsequent therapeutic process. Participants have stressed the relevance of the relational factors, involving the bond to family members, the peer group and, to a very relevant extent, the health care providers as the crucial resource that helped restoring their psychological equilibrium after the burn and preserved their developmental potential in the long term.