PAKO-ATOP

About 30% of adults in Germany suffer from at least one allergy. A large proportion is accounted for by diseases of the atopic type (ATOP), such as allergic asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, neurodermatitis and food allergies associated with atopic diseases.
Sufferers have a number of effective, non-prescription therapies available to them. They thus have very good opportunities to control their symptoms themselves, even without continuous (specialist) medical care. It is a cause for concern that about four out of ten affected persons do not treat themselves with freely available medications or use allergen avoidance strategies, despite having distressing symptoms.

To improve this situation, the consortium consisting of the Freiburg University of Education in Breisgau, the Hanover Medical School, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden, and the Institute for Ubiquitous Mobility Systems (IUMS) at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and Arts is developing a didactically sound, web-based intervention with the participation of affected individuals. In this context, the task of website creation lies with the IUMS at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. Thanks to numerous preliminary works in the field of web development, for example in the ongoing research project GoKarlsruhe or in the already successfully completed research project AlgStrOeff, IUMS has the necessary know-how for the technical implementation of the project. In the course of the next two years, an information platform will be created that will provide those affected with useful information about their disease. Furthermore, with the help of a diary, a kind of digital companion or coach will be created, which will make it possible to observe and analyze one's own allergy development. The data collected will be used in a randomized, controlled study on the effectiveness of the newly developed web-based service for mildly to moderately severely affected people.

With the help of an internet-based intervention, we would like to strengthen the allergy-specific health literacy of those affected. First and foremost, we are interested in increasing the disease and treatment knowledge of people with allergic diseases. Furthermore, we would like to strengthen the action competence of those affected and increase their ability to treat their allergies well and correctly themselves. We hope that this will also increase the health-relatedquality of life of those affected.