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eczema program

Why Eczema

Eczema is one of the 10 most common diseases in Australia. It affects nearly 3 million Australians including more than half a million who live with moderate to severe eczema. About 1 in 3 children aged 6 years or under have eczema.

Despite it being a common presentation in primary care, the ongoing management can be complex, time consuming and expensive. Evidence-practice gaps and gaps in consumer health literacy can lead to poor outcomes for people living with eczema and their carers including physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.

Issues for Consumers

Many consumers are stuck in a treatment maze and facing a range of issues such as:

An overwhelming range of options, applications and instructions to recall.

Inconsistent instructions from different health professionals such as GPs, pharmacists and dermatologists.

A lack of time with health professionals.

Misinformation and confusing advice about the use of topical corticosteroids, particularly online and through social media.

Issues for Health Professionals

The management of eczema is more complex than it might seem, and its impact is often underestimated.

Complex management and treatments regimens.

Time to understand the full impact of eczema and its management including physically, mentally and financially.

Complex instructions for flare treatment or frequency of use, duration of treatment, optimal potencies based on severity etc.

Legacy understanding of the role and use of topical corticosteroids.

Counselling patients with preconceived notions about medicines and treatments.

Our Approach

Our design and discovery process led to a range of pragmatic solutions to reconcile the consumer and health professional experiences.

These included, how and when to moisturise, and how to recognise triggers for flares. We started the process for dispelling myths about corticosteroids and setting the record straight on misinformation.

All of this is being delivered through a range of solutions and channels such as educational visits, webinars, resources and tools, peer group learning, audits, case studies, consumer videos, training videos and more.

By validating the consumer experience, we were able to unify consumer and health professional understanding, as well as care planning through an eczema care plan, the centrepiece for the program.