December 16, 2024, by mszteh
What an amazing year 2024 has been
As we come to the end of another year and look to the future in 2025, we just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the amazing things that the award-winning Rapid Eczema Trials project has achieved over the last year. You have all played a part in that – thank you!
Our first trial completed
Our first trial, looking at how often people with eczema should have a bath or shower, has been a huge success. This question is such a commonly asked question. It is exciting to finally have a clear answer for people living with eczema. 
Please do all share this simple message:
“People can choose whatever bathing routine suits them. How often you have a bath or shower made no difference to eczema symptoms in the Eczema Bathing Study.”
Next study developed
Hot on the heels of our first study, our co-design groups worked hard during 2024 to develop the research question and study design for our second trial. This will look at how long to use flare control creams for when you have an eczema flare-up. Again, this is a question that has remained unanswered for many years. We look forward to getting people involved in answering this question in 2025.
Testing the use of photos to assess eczema severity
One of the limitations of our online studies is that it is not possible to see people in real life. This means that we can’t look at their skin. We have been working with a team of researchers at Imperial College London to see if it is possible for people to take photos of their eczema and upload them. If it works out, this process could allow us to use computer-assessed eczema severity from photos in our next study.
It’s not too late to take part in this study – sign up on the Rapid Eczema Trials website.
Choosing a psychological intervention to test
We are always looking to the next study. The third area that people in the Rapid Eczema Trials community wanted to focus on was supporting psychological wellbeing for people with eczema. Our co-design group for this topic has focused on identifying things that we can test in an online study. We have found lots of options and are in the process of deciding which might be best to look at first.
Bringing science and the arts together
The Rapid Eczema Trials project is trying to do things differently. We want to raise awareness of research and how it can help people. To do this, we have been working with creative teams from Made By Mortals to create inspiring stories about getting involved in research. This work is bringing lived experience to life through film, music and interactive workshops. We hope this activity will inspire even more people to get involved and to help answer questions about eczema that they want answered.
Getting out and about in the community
There are many advantages to running our studies online. People from all walks of life can take part, including people living all over the UK. Nevertheless, it is always great to connect with people face to face and to hear their views. We have run many engagement activities during 2024 in a range of venues including shopping centres, local libraries and community centres. It has been great to meet you all and to hear your eczema stories.
So, if you have eczema or care for someone with eczema, we would love to hear from you. Visit the Rapid Eczema Trials website to sign up for our regular newsletters and join our community.
With all best wishes for 2025,
Kim and Amanda, co-leads of the Rapid Eczema Trials Project
The Rapid Eczema Trials programme is sponsored by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research programme (PGfAR NIHR203279). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
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