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Background: Atopic diseases have become a major health problem in the western world. Symptoms start mostly with atopic dermatitis (AD) in infancy, a disease characterized by dry and itchy skin with frequent relapses of inflammation. Its chronic course with extreme pruritus and loss of sleep affects the whole family. In order to identify special needs for support it seems important to look at quality of life (QoL) of the parents with special regards to factors influencing it. Patients and Methods: The families of 204 patients participating in a study designed to evaluate an education program for parents could be investigated at baseline. Besides assessment of severity and duration of AD parents filled in questionnaires on medical history, therapeutic efforts, health related QoL, and coping. Results: QoL of parents is heavily impaired compared to healthy controls. Mothers suffer more from the disease than fathers. Severity of the eczema and time spent on therapy only partly explain the impairment of QoL. More of the variance is explained by coping styles. Conclusion: Since familial stress has been shown to be a predictor for bad long-term outcome it is important to support parents in dealing with the chronic condition of their child. This suggests the need for patient and family education programs, which are capable of assisting parents in the management of and adjustment to the disease of their child.

Background: A standardized atopic eczema training program for children, adolescents, and their parents was developed in practice for a national multicenter project in Germany. The program has a multidimensional concept focussing on medical, social, and psychic aspects of the skin disease. Patients and Methods: The atopic eczema training is carried out by an interdisciplinary team including pediatricians and/or dermatologists, specialists in psychotherapeutic medicine, psychologists, pedagogical experts, and dieticians. The training of 1,300 patients and parents over a period of 3 years, including a 1-year follow-up, is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Health and the health insurance agencies. Contents and Quality Standards: The results of the agreement about the contents and the implementation of the atopic eczema training as well as the definition of the quality standards are presented.