Families living with food allergies can breathe a sigh of relief with a new video tool that’s been launched to share allergy information.
Parents of kids with allergies can often feel overwhelmed when sharing advice, tips and information to with friends, family, childminders, and other carers.
With this new tool you can provide the person responsible for your child with all the life-saving allergy information they require, making it easy to understand and remember.
Developed by The Allergy Team, which supports families living with food allergies and provides training and resources to thousands of teachers to best support allergies in schools, it’s hoped the videos will help to improve inclusion for children with allergies as well as education about the condition.
How does the Me and My Allergy tool work?
The Me and My Allergy videos aim to bridge the gap by taking some of the pressure off parents in their ongoing battle to keep their children safe when they aren’t there.
The personalised Me and My Allergy videos are six to seven minutes long each and they include a photo of the child with an explanation of their allergies.
It also includes information on where allergens are found and how people can avoid cross-contamination.
There is also information on what an allergic reaction looks like and specific details on what their medication is, whether they carry an EpiPen or a Jext adrenaline auto-injector and, crucially, how and when to use it.
You can input the information for each Me and my Allergy via a secure form, and the videos are ready in minutes. The finished film can be shared using a unique URL and personal access code.
Sarah Knight, founder of The Allergy Team and mother of two children with allergies, says: “When you have a child with food allergies, normal childhood activities such as playdates, parties, and after-school clubs can be extremely anxiety-inducing. There’s just no way of knowing how much people really know about allergies, and in fact, many people don’t fully understand them or how serious a reaction can be.
“The constant worry for parents is exhausting, and children with allergies are often left out - either because the worry is too much or they aren’t invited as the hosting parent is too concerned.”
For more information you can visit The Allergy Team website.