Summary

Topical therapies are very important to treat skin diseases, yet many patients fail to use them properly. Adherence to topical treatment regimens is estimated to be 50-70% in patients with psoriasis and non-adherence is associated with worse treatment outcomes and quality of life. St John’s Institute of Dermatology created an online resource consisting of six educational videos to empower patients to use topical treatments safely and efectively. A systematic framework was instigated to develop the resource, which has been published in the British Journal of Dermatology. Clinical need was assessed by systematic searches of Google and YouTube. This identifed a lack of impartial and evidence-based patient education videos. A total of 116 patients were consulted regarding video content and style. A multidisciplinary team of clinicians, specialist nurses, pharmacists and communications ofcers then developed video scripts. Video content was evidence-based, according to National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The video resource was then evaluated by 34 patients and 99 healthcare professionals. It has attracted over two million views on YouTube. Analysis of these data will help direct the development of future patient education resources.