Eczema Care Online
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Supporting self-care for eczema in the community
IRAS ID
230337
Contact name
Miriam Santer
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Aim
To improve the lives of people with eczema by developing and testing online resources designed to help them manage their eczema more effectively.Background
Eczema is very common, affecting around one in five children and one in ten adults. Eczema leads to poor quality of life because of red or bleeding skin, itching and poor sleep. Most people with eczema benefit from two treatments: (1) moisturisers (emollients) for dry skin, which need to be applied daily; and (2) topical corticosteroids for inflamed skin. A common reason why eczema is not well-controlled is because treatments are not used regularly or in large enough quantities. There are many reasons why people may find it difficult to use eczema treatments: they can be time-consuming to apply; treatments may sting when first applied to inflamed skin; there are concerns about the safety of some treatments; and because patients often receive conflicting advice about how and when to use treatments.Design and methods
We will develop online resources that address the needs of people with eczema in supporting their use of eczema treatments. The research will focus on meeting the needs of carers of children with eczema, and teenagers and young adults who manage their own eczema. We aim to promote effective self-care through improving knowledge and influencing beliefs and habits about use of treatments, using websites/apps that are easily accessible and tailored to individuals’ needs. We will also address the concerns of patients and healthcare professionals around the safety of topical corticosteroids. This research will include:
This protocol will focus on the initial four phases of a larger programme grant:
Phase 1:
Explore the support needs and barriers to self-care of people with eczema by reviewing existing evidence, and conducting interviews with people with eczema.
Phase 2:
Update and combine existing evidence around the safety of topical corticosteroids and develop targeted advice for patients and healthcare professionals.
Phases 3 & 4:
Develop eczema self-care support website/apps and test them to find out if they improve eczema.The final Workstream will plan how to promote eczema self-care support websites/apps in everyday use (if effective) but is not included in this protocol.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
17/WA/0329
Date of REC Opinion
11 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion