Exploring Geospatial Barriers and Facilitators to Community Integration Among Burn Injury Survivors 4354

This study leverages medical records from 1,500 burn injury survivors across four metropolitan areas—Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Dallas—to explore the features of successful community reintegration. They experience a range of physical and sensory impairments, including vision and hearing loss, alterations in voice and appearance, and mobility challenges. These changes can significantly hinder their reintegration into communities, affecting their resumption of social roles such as education and employment. Despite the critical importance of these issues, research on how community characteristics influence the reintegration of burn injury survivors has been scarce. This study addresses this gap by linking medical records to community characteristics data, revealing significant variations in community integration across and within the examined metropolitan areas. Furthermore, it identifies key factors associated with successful community integration, focusing on 1) access to healthcare, 2) sociodemographic traits, 3) the built environment, 4) the social environment, and 5) the natural environment.