["And there are always enough 'promo leaflets'". A qualitative study on the situation of leg ulcer patients and their needs in regard to patient education].

Chronic leg ulcers influence the daily lives of patients. Besides the burden of therapy, research results in the field of quality of life indicate constraints in the psychological, physiological, occupational and social parts of life. In order to take an active role in coping with the chronic disease, patients need knowledge and information that account for individual needs. Therefore our study had the objective to describe the lived experience of patients with leg ulcer and their corresponding needs for patient education. We used a qualitative study design. In a first step we made five narrative interviews. In a second step we made seven interviews using an interview guide that was based on results of the narrative interviews. Participants were recruited in two regions in Germany via two specialist practices and a hospital. We used a purposeful sampling strategy in order to account for the heterogenity of the patient group. Data was analysed using the content analysis approach by Mayring. Our analysis identified 4 interconnected main categories: living with the illness, experiences of wound care, being an expert, and educational needs. Patients are trying to integrate their illness into daily life and maximize their independence. They prefer individual counselling during regulartreatment to group counselling or meetings with other leg ulcer patients. Overall the described problems and solutions illustrate the complexities of the disease and its care.