Grant: Prize - IHDCYH Talks

Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergy that is rapid in onset and may cause death. Canadian research data indicate that the rate of children who visited emergency departments between 2006-2014 for anaphylaxis more than doubled. Despite its frequency and seriousness, poor recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis by caregivers remain a major gap that is well documented in health research. This gap is partially due to the lack of effective and valid teaching tools compounded with inadequate and inconsistent education that healthcare professionals provide to caregivers when they seek emergency care in hospitals. Therefore, we took multiple steps to bridge this serious gap using a patient-oriented approach. In 2015, we published the Canadian Anaphylaxis Action Plan for Kids (Kids' CAP) counselling tool which has pictograms that we validated on over 110 children and parents. Then, we validated the written components of the plan to make sure that the written instructions in the plan are easily understandable by students at grade 7 and above and parents of multiple literacy levels. We subsequently engaged over 220 children and caregivers to assess the perceived usefulness of the plan, and its educational value. Our research found that the Kids' CAP document is a useful counselling tool for children who are at risk of anaphylaxis. Finally, we utilized the teaching script that we used for the Kids' CAP study and incorporated critical feedback and common questions from participants who were enrolled in the study to create a teaching video. In order to maintain a consistent teaching message from key stakeholders, the script of the video was revised and updated based on feedback from members of Food Allergy Canada and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.