EADV 2018 – Paris
EADV 2018 – Paris
Report EADV 2018 – Paris
The European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) held their annual congress in Paris from 12th to 16th September 2018.
We were invited by the Global Skin Foundation in Canada to participate in this worldwide congress attended by a thousand medical specialists. Prof. Dr. Suzanne Pasmans and Prof. Dr. Peter Steijlen, two of our medical advisors, were speakers at this Conference.
As an organisation, we have also participated in Patient Village where part of the Conference room was specially equipped for patient organisations with the aim to present themselves to other conference participants.
On Friday, a workshop was organised by the Global Skin Foundation with several participants from different countries. One of the presenters was Dr. Patrick Kemperman of the University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His presentation was titled: ‘The Psychological Impact of a General Skin Condition’. He quoted the results of a study into the psychological burden of skin conditions. In about 10% of the cases, patients suffered from depression and in about 13% of the cases patients considered suicide ideas.
In the Netherlands, about 1 million people suffer from a skin condition, which means that potentially, this may be an issue for many people in the Netherlands.
His conclusions are:
- Mild or severe skin conditions can have a severe psychosocial impact.
- Doctors should be aware of major problems stemming from living with skin conditions.
- Screening is important to detect this hidden suffering.
- Early treatment (and if indicated psychological support) may reduce the emotional burden.
Christine Janus, CEO of Global Skin Foundation presented the GRIDD project (Global Research on Impact of Dermatological Diseases). This is the first project, which aims to gain insight into the actual cost of living with a skin condition, psychological functioning, social involvement, participation in training and the economic impact when suffering from a skin condition.
During this workshop, we split up in groups to work on a number of questions:
- How can we work together as a dermatological community to increase the visibility of and respect for the psychosocial impact of skin diseases?
- What are the most effective ways for patient organisations, doctors, nurses, researchers and other stakeholders to work together with the aim of supporting the psychosocial needs of dermatological patients?
- What changes can be implemented that have the most positive impact on psychological support and care of patients?
We discussed the conversation that a medical specialist has with a patient. In our opinion, a medical specialist should at least ask the following questions:
- What is the impact of the condition on the patient’s life?
- How does the patient feel?What does the patient want to achieve from a treatment?
- How can I help the patient to achieve this?
Several presentations demonstrated that doctors should treat the patient ‘as a whole’, and not just the skin condition. This does require a holistic approach.
On Saturday morning, the Global Skin Foundation launches its new initiative the ‘think tank’. This is a select group of people from a number of international patient organisations. On behalf of the CMTC-OVM organisation, Lex van der Heijden will participate in this initiative.