Teens want practical, “hands-on” food allergy education

Teens want practical, “hands-on” food allergy education

teenphotoTeenagers with food allergies would like hands-on practice using epinephrine auto-injectors and to role play scenarios about safe ways to eat out, travel and date, according to new Canadian research about teens learning preferences.

Allergic teens participated in focus groups at the Children’s Allergy and Asthma Education Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to help design an educational program custom-fit for teenagers. AllerGen trainee Claire Unruh, Centre staff Nancy Ross and Cathy Gillespie, and AllerGen investigator Dr. Allan Becker published the highlights in Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology.

A second abstract by the research team, “Lessons learned from the development of a school age food allergy education program,” addressed the need for activity-based and peer-to-peer interactions for effective allergy education with school-age children and their parents.