title: Educational multidisciplinary training programme for patients with chronic pruritus.
abstract: Chronic pruritus (> 6 weeks) is a worldwide symptom and a burden in many dermatological, systemic and psychosomatic/psychiatric diseases. Patients with chronic pruritus frequently endure a long and complicated disease course, failure of therapy and a substantial reduction in quality of life. Psychological mechanisms may be involved in eliciting and coping with chronic pruritus. Treatment of pruritus aims to be aetiological, but as a primary illness it is symptomatic. The needs of patients with chronic pruritus are diverse. Multi-disciplinary educational and psychological training programmes aim to improve patients' understanding of the disease, raise the motivation to apply more adaptive self-care measures, and consequently improve quality of life. Maintenance of health through educational programmes, such as the one presented here, can be considered as important complementary measures in the field of medicine and psychosomatics, which should also be offered to patients with chronic pruritus.
authors.affiliation: Department for Clinical Social Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bathe
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Matterne
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dewald
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grande
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weisshaar
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002908:Chronic Disease; D032882:Comprehension; D017281:Cost of Illness; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011537:Pruritus / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome