Striving Deadly is a therapeutic outdoor adventure initiative for survivors of burn injury, which provides an extension of psychosocial care for children beyond the boundaries of the Townsville University Hospital (TUH) walls. Therapeutic goals of the program include: access to peer support, challenge by choice experiences, and to build resilience through self-reflection. Striving Deadly was conceptualised on the model of Camp Oz, a burns camp delivered annually for 12 years by the Queensland Children’s Hospital and Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) Bornhoffen in South East Queensland (SEQ). Learnings from the delivery of Camp Oz were contextualised to accommodate the specific needs of running the program in North Queensland.
Research indicates that young people with burns are at an increased risk of manifesting negative life trajectories during adolescence. This has the potential to impact on many aspects of their life including psychological well-being, engagement in education and career and even social contributions. Despite extensive involvement by hospital staff through follow up care, many children with burns experience considerable ongoing physical, social and emotional challenges that impact their engagement in their everyday occupations. Striving Deadly provides an opportunity to consider these impacts in a community-based environment through engagement in outdoor adventure alongside their peers.
In recognition of the high proportion of indigenous participants, Striving Deadly was named by Trevor Prior, TUH’s Cultural Practice Coordinator with the aim of facilitating cultural safety within the program. It was a chosen to acknowledge that the children were striving to be ‘deadly’ or a ‘better version’ of themselves. The camp began with a smoking ceremony to welcome the children and start them on their healing journey.
