Educational handouts aim to help families manage, cope with pediatric food allergy
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Key takeaways:
- An American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Work Group developed a set of educational handouts about pediatric food allergies for caregivers and patients including materials targeting specific age groups.
- Parents and other stakeholders who reviewed these drafts praised their content and said they would be somewhat or very likely to use them in managing their child’s food allergy.
- The work group incorporated the reviewers’ constructive criticism, including the handouts’ wordy nature and need for graphics, in creating the final drafts.
Handouts designed to educate families about food allergy received high marks for their clarity and usefulness from a sample of potential users, according to a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
Developed by an American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Work Group, these handouts could be used during health care visits and accessed by patients directly online as well, the researchers wrote.
“Food allergy practice guidelines recommend that food allergy education should be an ongoing process,” Jennifer S. LeBovidge, PhD, attending psychologist in the division of immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, told Healio.
According to the researchers, no current educational resources about food allergies address the specific needs of caregivers and children at different stages of childhood development.
“Our team of allergists and psychologists from the AAAAI Psychosocial Impact of Food Allergies Work Group saw an unmet need for age-specific, evidence-based, practical resources to help families confidently navigate these transitions and gradually involve children in their own food allergy management over time to build their skills and confidence,” LeBovidge said.
Preparing and reviewing the handout
The researchers prepared a draft of their “Food Allergy Basics for All Ages” handout as well as drafts of handouts targeting specific age groups from infancy to young adults.
These drafts were based on practice parameters, relevant published research and the clinical experience of the project team, which included five pediatric allergists and four pediatric psychologists with expertise in food allergy.
Handouts were written in plain language with a caregiver audience in mind, except for the handout for young adults, which was written for that age group.
Participants comprised 51 mothers, five fathers and one grandmother with legal guardianship of children with food allergies in addition to two young adults, aged 23 years, with food allergies.
After reading the all-ages handout and the most age-appropriate handout for their circumstances, participants completed an online survey.
According to the researchers, 81% of the participants said the amount of information in the all-ages handout was “just right,” and 79% said the same about the age-specific handouts. However, 17% said the all-ages handout had “too much information.”
Almost all caregivers reported being “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to use the handouts in their child’s food allergy management, and nearly all agreed the handouts used plain language. Participants noted clear writing and organization, developmental framework, emotional aspect information and comprehensive content as useful features.
The researchers incorporated participants’ constructive feedback — that the handouts were “wordy” and should include graphics and white space — in updated drafts. The final handouts are available with the online version of the study.
“A number of caregivers provided feedback around the important issue of teaching other people who care for the child about food allergy management, including the suggestion that the handouts might be useful to share with friends, extended family members, babysitters and teachers,” LeBovidge said.
Next steps
Doctors and other health care professionals could utilize the handouts as a teaching tool during clinic visits to facilitate ongoing food allergy education tailored to each patient’s specific developmental stage, LeBovidge said.
The handouts could also be provided as a resource for families as they integrate food allergy management into daily life, she continued, as doctors may choose to have hard copies available or share the link to the online versions.
However, the researchers cautioned that further work is needed in developing patient-facing handouts for older children and adolescents, who would be expected to play a larger role in managing their own food allergies.
Given that the study participants were primarily white, English speaking and highly educated with high incomes, the researchers plan to continue to gather feedback from a more diverse population.
The researchers are now translating the handouts into Spanish and developing a flier with a QR code linking directly to the online versions that could be posted in the waiting areas or exam rooms of physicians’ offices.
Reference:
- Food allergy stages handouts. https://www.aaaai.org/Tools-for-the-Public/Conditions-Library/Allergies/Food-Allergy-Stages-Handouts. Published Aug. 17, 2022. Accessed Sept. 12, 2022.
For more information:
Jennifer S. LeBovidge, PhD, can be reached at jennifer.lebovidge@childrens.harvard.edu.
Perspective
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We definitely need more educational information for patients and families that are easy to understand. Food allergy is complex, and the more handouts, videos and books we have to support them, the better! We need fun, engaging materials that families can use on a regular basis and also share with other caregivers.
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