Project overview
We will develop and test 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 will also address the concerns of patients and healthcare professionals around the safety of topical corticosteroids.
This project will be carried out through the following five inter-connected work packages (WPs):
WP 1: Explore the support needs and barriers to self-care through reviewing the existing evidence and conducting interviews with people with eczema and people who care for someone with eczema.
Objectives: Gain an understanding of experiences of eczema, including self-care support needs and patient/carer views on, and experience of, using eczema treatments.
WP 2: Systematically review existing evidence on topical corticosteroid safety.
Objectives: Establish current best evidence on the safety of topical corticosteroids and use this to create tools to support shared decision making and shared understanding between health professionals and people with eczema.
WP 3: Develop two online interventions to help support self-care: one for parents/carers of children with eczema and one for teenagers and young adults with eczema.
Objectives: Create two tailored interventions designed to target and influence behaviour.
WP 4: Determine clinical and cost-effectiveness of the online interventions compared to standard care by performing two randomised controlled trials with health economic analyses.
Objectives: Feasibility randomised controlled trials will establish the trial recruitment and viability, and the full-scale trials will determine clinical and cost effectiveness.
WP 5: Investigate how the interventions can be integrated into clinical practice and facilitate their uptake if effective.
Objectives: Support the interpretation of the findings and facilitate uptake of the interventions and engage with clinical communities to promote sign-posting towards interventions.
Contact: ECO@soton.ac.uk
This research is being conducted by the Primary Care Research Centre
This project will be carried out through the following five inter-connected work packages (WPs):
WP 1: Explore the support needs and barriers to self-care through reviewing the existing evidence and conducting interviews with people with eczema and people who care for someone with eczema.
Objectives: Gain an understanding of experiences of eczema, including self-care support needs and patient/carer views on, and experience of, using eczema treatments.
WP 2: Systematically review existing evidence on topical corticosteroid safety.
Objectives: Establish current best evidence on the safety of topical corticosteroids and use this to create tools to support shared decision making and shared understanding between health professionals and people with eczema.
WP 3: Develop two online interventions to help support self-care: one for parents/carers of children with eczema and one for teenagers and young adults with eczema.
Objectives: Create two tailored interventions designed to target and influence behaviour.
WP 4: Determine clinical and cost-effectiveness of the online interventions compared to standard care by performing two randomised controlled trials with health economic analyses.
Objectives: Feasibility randomised controlled trials will establish the trial recruitment and viability, and the full-scale trials will determine clinical and cost effectiveness.
WP 5: Investigate how the interventions can be integrated into clinical practice and facilitate their uptake if effective.
Objectives: Support the interpretation of the findings and facilitate uptake of the interventions and engage with clinical communities to promote sign-posting towards interventions.
Contact: ECO@soton.ac.uk
This research is being conducted by the Primary Care Research Centre
Staff
Lead researchers
Other researchers
Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups
Research outputs
Laura Howells, Kim S. Thomas, Miriam Santer, Ingrid Muller, Kate Greenwell, Amanda Roberts, Hywel C. Williams, Jane Harvey, Stephanie J. Lax, Natasha K. Rogers, Tracey H. Sach, Sandra Lawton, Mary Steele, Katy Sivyer, Julie Hooper, Amina Ahmed, Sylvia Wilczynska, Sinead Langan & Paul Leighton,
2025, BMC Health Services Research, 25(1)
Type: article
Tracey H. Sach, Mary Onoja, Holly Clarke, Miriam Santer, Ingrid Muller, Taeko Becque, Beth Stuart, Julie Hooper, Mary Steele, Sylvia Wilczynska, Matthew J. Ridd, Amanda Roberts, Amina Ahmed, Lucy Yardley, Paul Little, Kate Greenwell, Katy Sivyer, Jacqui Nuttall, Gareth Griffiths, Sandra Lawton, Sinéad M. Langan, Laura Howells, Paul Leighton, Hywel C. Williams & Kim S. Thomas,
2024, The European Journal of Health Economics, 25(7), 1165-1176
Type: article
Miriam Santer, Matthew J. Ridd, Jane Harvey, Stephanie Lax, Ingrid Muller, Amanda Roberts & Kim S. Thomas,
2024, British Journal of General Practice, 74(738), 40-42
Type: article
Jane Harvey, Stephanie J. Lax, Alison Lowe, Miriam Santer, Sandra Lawton, Sinead M. Langan, Amanda Roberts, Beth Stuart, Hywel Williams & Kim Thomas,
2023, Skin Health and Disease Open Access, 3(5)
DOI: 10.1002/ski2.268
Type: review
Miriam Santer, Ingrid Muller, Taeko Becque, Beth Stuart, Julie Hooper, Mary Steele, Sylvia Wilczynska, Tracey H Sach, Matthew J. Ridd, Amanda Roberts, Amina Ahmed, Lucy Yardley, Paul Little, Kate Greenwell, Katy Sivyer, Jacqueline Nuttall, Gareth Griffiths, Sandra Lawton, Sinéad Langan, Laura M Howells, Paul Leighton, Hywel Williams & Kim S. Thomas,
2022, The BMJ, 379, e072007
Type: article
Miriam Santer, Lucy Yardley, Ingrid Muller, Amanda Roberts & Kim Thomas,
2022, The BMJ, 379:o2973
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.o2973
Type: article
Kate Greenwell, Katy Sivyer, Laura Howells, Mary Steele, Matthew J. Ridd, Amanda Roberts, Amina Ahmed, Sandra Lawton, Sinéad M. Langan, Julie Hooper, Sylvia Wilczynska, Paul Leighton, Gareth Griffiths, Tracey Sach, Paul Little, Hywel C. Williams, Kim S. Thomas, Lucy Yardley, Miriam Santer & Ingrid Muller,
2022, British Journal of Dermatology
DOI: 10.1093/bjd/ljac115
Type: article