Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps
Currently, no synthesis of in-school policies, practices and teachers and school staff’s food allergy-related knowledge exists. We aimed to conduct a scoping review on in-school food allergy management, and perceived gaps or barriers in these systems. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR-guided search for elig...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/4/732 |
| _version_ | 1797477517075939328 |
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| author | Mae Jhelene L. Santos Kaitlyn A. Merrill Jennifer D. Gerdts Moshe Ben-Shoshan Jennifer L. P. Protudjer |
| author_facet | Mae Jhelene L. Santos Kaitlyn A. Merrill Jennifer D. Gerdts Moshe Ben-Shoshan Jennifer L. P. Protudjer |
| author_sort | Mae Jhelene L. Santos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Currently, no synthesis of in-school policies, practices and teachers and school staff’s food allergy-related knowledge exists. We aimed to conduct a scoping review on in-school food allergy management, and perceived gaps or barriers in these systems. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR-guided search for eligible English or French language articles from North America, Europe, or Australia published in OVID-MedLine, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases. Two reviewers screened 2010 articles’ titles/abstracts, with 77 full-text screened. Reviewers differed by language. Results were reported descriptively and thematically. We included 12 studies. Among teachers and school staff, food allergy experiences, training, and knowledge varied widely. Food allergy experience was reported in 10/12 studies (83.4%); 20.0–88.0% had received previous training (4/10 studies; 40.0%) and 43.0–72.2% never had training (2/10 studies; 20.0%). In-school policies including epinephrine auto-injector (EAI) and emergency anaphylaxis plans (EAP) were described in 5/12 studies (41.7%). Educational interventions (8/12 studies; 66.7%) increased participants’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and confidence to manage food allergy and anaphylaxis vs. baseline. Teachers and school staff have more food allergy-related experiences than training and knowledge to manage emergencies. Mandatory, standardized training including EAI use and evaluation, and the provision of available EAI and EAPs may increase school staff emergency preparedness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:18:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5345b16dcdcc41cebdc8ea89fb813bb6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:18:48Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-5345b16dcdcc41cebdc8ea89fb813bb62023-11-23T21:27:33ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432022-02-0114473210.3390/nu14040732Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and GapsMae Jhelene L. Santos0Kaitlyn A. Merrill1Jennifer D. Gerdts2Moshe Ben-Shoshan3Jennifer L. P. Protudjer4Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, CanadaThe Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, CanadaFood Allergy Canada, Toronto, ON M2J 4A2, CanadaDivision of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, CanadaDepartment of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, CanadaCurrently, no synthesis of in-school policies, practices and teachers and school staff’s food allergy-related knowledge exists. We aimed to conduct a scoping review on in-school food allergy management, and perceived gaps or barriers in these systems. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR-guided search for eligible English or French language articles from North America, Europe, or Australia published in OVID-MedLine, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases. Two reviewers screened 2010 articles’ titles/abstracts, with 77 full-text screened. Reviewers differed by language. Results were reported descriptively and thematically. We included 12 studies. Among teachers and school staff, food allergy experiences, training, and knowledge varied widely. Food allergy experience was reported in 10/12 studies (83.4%); 20.0–88.0% had received previous training (4/10 studies; 40.0%) and 43.0–72.2% never had training (2/10 studies; 20.0%). In-school policies including epinephrine auto-injector (EAI) and emergency anaphylaxis plans (EAP) were described in 5/12 studies (41.7%). Educational interventions (8/12 studies; 66.7%) increased participants’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and confidence to manage food allergy and anaphylaxis vs. baseline. Teachers and school staff have more food allergy-related experiences than training and knowledge to manage emergencies. Mandatory, standardized training including EAI use and evaluation, and the provision of available EAI and EAPs may increase school staff emergency preparedness.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/4/732anaphylaxisepinephrinefood allergyschoolsscoping reviewteachers |
| spellingShingle | Mae Jhelene L. Santos Kaitlyn A. Merrill Jennifer D. Gerdts Moshe Ben-Shoshan Jennifer L. P. Protudjer Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps Nutrients anaphylaxis epinephrine food allergy schools scoping review teachers |
| title | Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps |
| title_full | Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps |
| title_fullStr | Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps |
| title_full_unstemmed | Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps |
| title_short | Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps |
| title_sort | food allergy education and management in schools a scoping review on current practices and gaps |
| topic | anaphylaxis epinephrine food allergy schools scoping review teachers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/4/732 |
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