Living with skin diseases and topical treatment: Patients' and providers' perspectives and priorities

Objectives: Relationship-centred care stresses the importance of taking both patients' and health-care providers' values, expectations and preferences into account to improve health outcomes. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify patients' and providers' views and experiences of skin disease and topical treatment. Methods: Two types of focus group were used: (i) patients with chronic dermatological diseases and (ii) doctors, nurses and pharmacists working in dermatological care. Results: Three major categories emerged: (i) problems related to the disease, (ii) problems related to the treatment and (iii) strategies for improving everyday life for patients. Conclusion: Patients and providers made several suggestions for improving everyday life. Future research needs to focus on how to achieve preference-matched shared decision-making, or concordance, between patients and health-care providers, taking different perspectives into account and how to evaluate the effect of the final, clinical, economical and humanistic outcomes of care and treatment. More seamless care and an increasingly shared understanding between patients and providers of their values, expectations and preferences for care and treatment may contribute to better health and better daily lives for patients.