The impact of chronic skin disease in adolescence and the need for specialist adolescent services.

Adolescence is a critical period in both physical and psychological development. Skin conditions are very common in this age group, and are known to impart a considerable psychological burden, with higher rates of both anxiety and depression in those with chronic skin disease. The Department of Health has identified the specialized needs of adolescents as they transition from paediatric to adult services as a key priority, with emphasis on providing 'developmentally appropriate healthcare'. However, in spite of this, there are very few dedicated transitional clinics in the UK with appropriate psychosocial support. We have demonstrated in our own clinical practices that a dedicated teenage and young adult dermatology clinic with embedded specialist psychological support can deliver effective dermatological care to young people with a variety of skin conditions. We call for a greater focus on achieving developmentally appropriate care for adolescents across the UK to address the unmet transitional and psychological care needs in this population.

Establishing and developing a Teenage and Young Adult dermatology clinic with embedded specialist psychological support.

Skin conditions are common in adolescence and impart considerable psychological burden. The Department of Health has identified the specialized needs of adolescents transitioning from paediatric to adult services as a priority, yet there are few dedicated transitional clinics in the UK providing appropriate psychosocial support. We have established a monthly Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) dermatology clinic dedicated to managing teenagers and young adults with skin disease alongside open-access psychological support. Demographic data and Teenagers' Quality of Life Index (T-QoL) measures were recorded for all patients in 2016. To evaluate patient experience, two online surveys were conducted. Statistically significant improvements in the T-QoL were recorded for patients with the most common skin condition (eczema) attending for repeat assessment by the psychologist. Patients reported high satisfaction rates in both patient experience surveys. These results demonstrate that specialized adolescent care both is well received and can improve outcomes for these patients.