Eczema and the older person.

Age-related changes lead to an increase in skin problems, and around 70% of older people have a treatable skin condition. However, ageing and poor physical health can make it difficult for older people to care for their skin. Eczema, a chronic inflammatory skin condition, where the skin becomes red, inflamed, itchy and scaly, can develop easily in older adults. This can, in turn, become infected and cause discomfort and health problems. This article explains how ageing affects the skin, how eczema can develop and how it can be treated, also touching upon the different types of eczema. It aims to equip community nurses with knowledge about this common condition and how to recognise and manage it.

Randomized controlled trial of Triple P for parents of children with asthma or eczema: Effects on parenting and child behavior.

OBJECTIVE: Parents play an important role in children's illness management, in promoting child adjustment and reducing behavior problems. Little research has focused on the evaluation of parenting interventions in the context of childhood chronic illness. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of a brief, group parenting intervention (Healthy Living Triple P) in improving parenting skills and parent adjustment, and reducing child behavioral and emotional difficulties in the context of childhood asthma and eczema. METHOD: One hundred seven parents of children with a diagnosis of asthma and/or eczema were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 52) or care as usual (CAU; n = 55). Parents completed self-report measures of their child's behavioral and emotional adjustment, their own parenting, and their own level of adjustment at pre- and postintervention and at 6-month follow-up. Parent-child interactions were observed and coded at each time point. The intervention consisted of 2 group sessions of 2 hr each delivered by trained, accredited practitioners. RESULTS: Attrition was low, with T2 and T3 assessment completed by 84.6% and 80.8% of intervention families and 92.7% and 81.8% of CAU families, respectively. Intention-to-treat analyses indicated that overall parent-reported ineffective parenting as well as parental overreactivity reduced as a result of intervention. Parent report of child behavior problems also decreased, but there were no changes in children's emotional adjustment. No changes in observed parent or child behavior were found. Stress reduced for parents in the intervention group compared to the CAU group, but there were no changes in parental anxiety or depression. Effects showed evidence of reliable and clinical change and were maintained at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention shows promise as an addition to clinical services for children with asthma and eczema and may have broader application to other chronic health conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Supporting patients with eczema-introducing the TalkingEczema tool.

Julie Van Onselen discusses the TalkingEczema tool that empowers patients with eczema who self-care, and their clinicians, to improve the treatment and management of a condition that affects one in ten adults.

Children with eczema.

As a nurse practitioner at a GP surgery, I frequently encounter children who have eczema.

Promoting effective education for children with eczema.

Patient and parent education for children with eczema should follow a consistent approach, guided by an established framework that combines aspects of nursing, education and cognitive psychology. Using the framework enables nurses to understand how to use and develop their skills when providing education about the management of eczema in children, and enables patients and parents to understand and develop the skills required to manage a chronic condition such as eczema. This framework is transferable to the adult context.

User evaluation of patient counselling, combining nurse consultation and eHealth in hand eczema.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study reports the findings from a user evaluation of a counselling programme for hand eczema patients in which face-to-face encounters were supplemented with user access to a new website. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients treated for hand eczema in two different settings were included consecutively. Website utilization was examined by use of the transaction log. Comparisons were made between participants who used the website and those who did not. The patients' perspectives were explored by the use of interviews. RESULTS: Among potential website users (n = 140), 88 patients (63%) had an average of 5.1 site visits. At follow-up, the website users had improved more in quality of life (p = 0.014), current burden of disease (p = 0.053), and itching (p = 0.042). The website users reported more changes in habits than did the non-website users (p = 0.024). No differences in clinical severity of hand eczema were found. The interviewees were generally satisfied with the counselling and the website. The strict log-on procedures were considered to be an obstacle to using the site. The consecutive inclusion of participants was considered to be a barrier to engagement in the dialogue forum. CONCLUSIONS: The website users benefited from the website, although this was not substantiated by clinical measurements. The trial design partly hampered website utilization. An initial feasibility study could have been warranted.

The management of eczema in children.

Eczema is very common in children and impacts significantly on the quality of life of children and their families and carers. Poor adherence remains the main cause of treatment failure. Rigorous and consistent use of treatments is key to relieving symptoms, but many parents experience significant barriers to application. Community practitioners are ideally placed to educate parents in the use of emollients, and where necessary topical corticosteroids, identify and discuss problems and help parents to develop strategies to overcome difficulties. Food allergy is associated with eczema, particularly in infants and the risk increases with severity. Community practitioners need to be confident in its recognition and management.

Knowledge, instruction and behavioural change: building a framework for effective eczema education in clinical practice.

AIMS: A discussion on the reasons educational interventions about eczema, by nurses, are successful, with the subsequent development of a theoretical framework to guide nurses to become effective patient educators. BACKGROUND: Effective child and parent education is the key to successful self-management of eczema. When diagnosed, children and parents should learn to understand the condition through clear explanations, seeing treatment demonstrations and have ongoing support to learn practical skills to control eczema. Dermatology nurses provide these services, but no one has proposed a framework of the concepts underpinning their successful eczema educational interventions. DESIGN: A discussion paper. DATA SOURCES: A literature search of online databases was undertaken utilizing terms 'eczema OR atopic dermatitis', 'education', 'parent', 'nurs*', 'framework', 'knowledge', motivation', in Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, Medline and Pubmed. Limits were English language and 2003-2013. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: The framework can inform discussion on child and parent education, provide a scaffold for future research and guide non-specialist nurses, internationally, in providing consistent patient education about eczema. CONCLUSION: Founded on an understanding of knowledge, the framework utilizes essential elements of cognitive psychology and social cognitive theory leading to successful self-management of eczema. This framework may prove useful as a basis for future research in child and parent education, globally, in the healthcare community. A framework has been created to help nurses understand the essential elements of the learning processes at the foundation of effective child and parent education. The framework serves to explain the improved outcomes reported in previous nurse-led eczema educational interventions.

Living ordinary family life with an allergic child-the mother's perspective.

Ecocultural theory considering family as an entity may serve as a new point of view instead of "impact of disease"-perspective. Aims were to reveal ecocultural themes and activities of daily routines in the treatment of a child's food allergy and eczema. Interviews (N=24) were held with mothers with allergic children aged 12 months and mothers repeat interviews at 24 months. The theme; "living an ordinary family life", was implemented across the family activities of routines essential for treating the child's allergy. New or altered treatment regimens can be tailored to families on the basis of existing activities.

Childhood eczema treatment: the barriers.

Childhood eczema has a significant impact on the quality of life of children and their families, yet the main cause of treatment failure is parents/carers not using prescribed topical treatments. This article reports the results of a study that explored carers' experiences of barriers to treatment adherence and how they sought to overcome these. We found that regular application of topical treatments can be highly challenging, particularly in families where child resistance develops. Our findings are considered alongside research into other long-term childhood conditions.

Developing a nurse-led integrated 'red legs' service.

This project was developed to set up a nurse-led service based on the needs of patients diagnosed with 'red legs'. These patients are often wrongly admitted into hospital for treatment of cellulitis. Representatives from the specialties involved in caring for those individuals with red legs were invited to participate with patients to create a stakeholder group whose purpose was to develop integrated care pathways focused on referral criteria, diagnostics and treatment to inform a new nurse-led service. There was a commitment to utilising a number of facilitation techniques and practice-development methods in the progression of the project with the support of the Foundation of Nursing Studies. Much of the prescribed care can be carried out by the patients at home and only 25% patients have required a follow-up appointment within the new service. The service has now been fully commissioned and a secondment opportunity has been developed to lead the new service. Significant savings have been demonstrated and regular revision of the integrated care pathways with all groups, including the patients, will take place.