Category: Treatment

New Tool To Better Understand How Allergies Impact Our Patients' Lives

3/6/2022

When an allergic patient or parent of a child managing an allergy reaches out for therapy, it's important for me to learn how the allergy impacts their lives. Sure, they are reaching out because they feel overwhelmed or anxious about their allergy, but that's just the overall picture. And in order to truly help my patients, I need to get a more detailed picture.

I do this by asking patients to complete the appropriate Food Allergy Psychosocial Information Form as part of their intake paperwork. The responses on this form gives me a solid glimpse into their quality of life, which domains are most impacted, and psychosocial themes that may need adjusting. It's a tool that has helped me more effectively meet my patients' needs and ensure they're feeling understood for years now.

After sharing these forms during consultation sessions with allergy practices and fellow therapists, it became clear that these tools may be beneficial to others. Therefore, I've decided to offer them to allergy and therapy practitioners, too.

Read on to learn more about how they're beneficial to both patients and providers!

The Food Allergy Psychosocial Information Forms are premade AND customizable! That means that you don't have to spend time creating them, and can personalize them with your practice's logo and information.

Versions available:

Therapy Practice Version - child, adolescent, adult, parent/caregiver
Allergy Practice Version - child, adolescent, adult, parent/caregiver
Currently available in paper format; fillable format coming soon

What are the differences between the therapy and allergy practice versions?
All four forms are available for both, but questions vary slightly between both versions so that they are more tailored to the scope of the practices.

What Information Does These Forms Gather:
These patient narrative forms allow for detailed responses on themes such as:

Allergy mindset and outlook
Anxiety levels and quality of life (QoL) impacts
Behavioral changes (i.e. restricted eating patterns, limiting experiences)
Impactful memories from previous reactions
Epinephrine knowledge and/or fear of use
Allergy care guidelines being implemented
Sources used to learn allergy information
Allergy impacts in various domains
How patients manage their allergy well
What information will help patients decrease anxiety/increase QoL

Benefits of Using These Forms in Therapy Practices:

Premade and customizable for your practice
One form gathers anxiety-related QoL, anxiety and functioning information
Patient narrative format helps with treatment goal planning
Patient may feel more comfortable sharing this information initially in writing
Potential networking tool with allergy practices - helps allergists identify patients who may benefit from therapeutic support to positively impact QoL

Benefits of Using These Forms in Allergy Practices:

Premade and customizable for your practice
One form gathers anxiety-related QoL, anxiety and functioning information
Opportunity for patients to feel heard/more easily express allergy struggles
Helps identify patients' allergy knowledge gaps or inaccurate information
Helps assess potential need for allied health services (i.e. therapist, dietitian)
Identifies themes to reassess/revisit with patients in future appointments

Suggestions/Tips For Use:

For All - Give to patients as part of intake paperwork process
For Allergy Practices - If allergist is unable to review due to time constraints, consider having another team member review and share main points

Narrative Versus Validated Patient Forms?
It's like comparing apples and oranges - both are fruit, but different kinds. Both narrative and validated forms gather valuable patient information, but in different manners.

Validated assessments, such as the Survey of Food Allergy Anxiety (SOFAA), typically assess functioning and impacts that helps drive diagnosis and treatment decisions.

Patient narrative forms, such as these Food Allergy Psychosocial Information Forms, primarily gather information to aid in understanding the whole patient. While they may also be used to help determine treatment decisions, their primary purpose is gathering information that helps to facilitate conversations and problem-solve with patients.

[The images above show the Parent/Caregiver - Therapy Practice version]

Visit the "Worksheets" page to check out and learn more about these Food Allergy Psychosocial Information Forms, and don't hesitate to reach out with questions!

Special introductory pricing is available through March 31, 2022, and there will always be a discount for purchasing the package, which includes all 4 forms.

Direct URL to the Worksheets page: www.FoodAllergyAnxiety.com

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Tips for managing oral food challenge anxiety

4/19/2021

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You've likely heard the term "oral food challenge" mentioned by your allergist or in online food allergy support groups. But if you haven't, here's a quick primer from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology on oral food challenges:

What is an oral food challenge?
An oral food challenge (OFC), or feeding test, is a medical procedure in which a food is eaten slowly, in gradually increasing amounts, under medical supervision, to accurately diagnose or rule out a true food allergy.

What are the reasons to perform an OFC?
OFCs are usually done when a careful medical history and allergy tests, such as skin and blood tests, are inconclusive. The OFC is a more definitive test because it will show whether the food ingested produces no symptoms or triggers a reaction.

Oral Food Challenge (OFC) Anxiety and Worry:

Given that during oral food challenges you are eating a food that you may potentially be allergic to or have previously been allergic to, it's no surprise that you may feel anxious and worried in anticipation of that appointment - many do. Our mind wants to keep us safe, so an oral food challenge can feel like a potential threat to our mind when we think about it. Therefore, it's normal and appropriate to experience anxiety about oral food challenges. However, it's important to remember that you don't need to interpret that anxiety to mean that the oral food challenge will result in the worst case scenario.

What Helps OFC Anxiety and Worry?

When you experience increased anticipatory anxiety - that is, anxiety about a future event, it can be helpful to prepare for the event in order to to increase readiness and decrease fear.

Here is a brief list of ways to prepare ahead of time for your or your child's oral food challenge:

Purpose/Process: Do you understand the purpose and process for the oral food challenge? It's important to have a good understanding of these things before the actual appointment, so reach out to your allergist if you're unsure.
Information: What other questions do you or your child have about the food challenge? Will you reach out to your allergist ahead of time to ask these questions? If not, what reputable sources can provide this information?
Motivation: Connect with your motivation for doing the food challenge, whether it's for yourself or your child. Reconnecting with hope and thinking about what you may gain from doing the challenge can help when feeling nervous.
Thoughts/Feelings: Notice what thoughts and feelings you're having about the food challenge. How do they make your body feel? If your child is doing the food challenge, help them notice and explore their thoughts and feelings, too. Develop a list of empowering replies to these thoughts such as "I can do hard things!" or "The allergist and nurses know what they're doing!"
Calming Strategies: Practice some calming strategies ahead of time so that you're familiar with them for the appointment. Here are a couple of simple calming strategies you can try:
- For teens or adults (Square or Box Breathing) - Exhale to a count of 4, then hold for a 4 count. Inhale to a count of 4, then hold air in your lungs for a count of 4. Exhale and repeat the pattern.
- For kids (Cupcake & Candle Breathing) - Inhale like you're smelling a yummy cupcake, and then exhale like you're blowing out the candle on it. Repeat as many times as necessary.
- 5-4-3-2-1 Activity - Notice 5 things you can see. Notice 4 things you can touch. Notice 3 things you can hear. Notice 2 things you can smell. Notice 1 thing you can taste. This helps stay present-focused rather than worrying about future things.
Logistics Preparation: What do you need to bring with to the oral food challenge appointment. Create a list of food items you may need (i.e. allergen, food to put allergen in for consumption) and fun or distracting games or activities. If the food challenge is for your child, have them help you brainstorm game or toy ideas for the appointment. Also be sure to bring along any comforting items that may help decrease anxiety and increase calm.

Additional Resources and Tips to Help Manage OFC Anxiety

PODCAST EPISODE:
Be sure to listen to Episode 14 of Exploring Food Allergy Families called, "Tips for Managing Oral Food Challenge Anxiety & Worry". In this episode, fellow allergy-informed therapist Fawn McNeil-Haber, PhD and I discuss helpful strategies for navigating oral food challenges. We offer preparation tips and guidance on navigating anxiety and mindsets prior to and during the food challenge. Here are specific topics we explore in this episode:

Strategies to navigate nerves during the actual OFC appointment
The importance of having a mantra
Tips to help determine anxiety versus allergic reaction sensations
How far in advance to tell your child about an OFC
Tips to encourage readiness and decrease anxiety for kids, teens, parents and adults
Answering the question "How does the allergist know what's happening in my body?"
A fun idea parents can prepare for the actual appointment

You can listen via your favorite podcast app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes!

ORAL FOOD CHALLENGE PREPARATION WORKSHEETS:
Check out these Oral Food Challenge worksheets which help prepare before the appointment, offer helpful reminders for the day of, and prompts for processing after the food challenge. (There are separate worksheets for kids and teens/adults). Also check out this post on a post-anaphylaxis tool known as T.R.A.C.E, which is a compass guiding you back to confidence after allergic reactions.

You can find these worksheets on the Therapeutic Worksheets page here on the Food Allergy Counselor website.

Hopefully reading this and checking out the podcast, worksheets and other resources offers you some reassurance that oral food challenge-related anxiety is normal and manageable. Don't hesitate to reach out and let me know if these tips have helped you or your patients, or to share tips of your own! And if you're looking for an allergy-informed therapist in your state (many of whom provide telehealth to residents of their state), visit the Food Allergy Counselor Directory.

You can connect with me on Twitter (@TherapistTamara and @FACounselor), Instagram (@TherapistTamara & @FoodAllergyCounselor) and Facebook (@FoodAllergyCounselor and @TamaraHubbardLCPC).

Thanks for reading!

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New Podcast: Exploring Food Allergy Families

4/25/2020

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I'm very excited about this announcement. Not only does it relate to topics I am passionate about, but it's also a resource that I think will be enjoyable to listen to and learn from.

Introducing.....

So why did I create this podcast?

Well, you'll have to listen to the brief preview episode to hear that answer!

But I'll share why I think you'll enjoy this new podcast....

Exploring Food Allergy Families is a podcast with real talk, relatable conversations, and practical tips focused on navigating the impacts that food allergies have on families, mental health, and emotional well-being. Building resilience and an empowered mindset are key pillars of this podcast.

With episode lengths of 30 minutes or less, they're perfect to listen to while going for a run, walking the dog, or enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning (or wine at night)!

This podcast aims to share and explore:

"Bite size" chunks of knowledge on various topics, with tips you can use
Interviews with allergy-informed allied and mental healthcare providers
Guidance on a variety of food allergy, relationship, and life stresses
New thought processes that help you co-exist with or flip inner worry voices
Strategies to assess and address increased anxiety, emotions, and stress
Perspectives on how food allergies impact family systems and relationships
Building an empowered mindset to help gain confidence and build resilience
Honest conversations with families at various stages of their allergy journey
Reassurance that you're not alone in your thoughts and feelings
Parenting guidance to help determine if you're on track with food allergy parenting goals in different stages of development
Fun chats, because sometimes we just need to lighten the mood and laugh
And SO much more, because this is just the beginning!

Also, for episodes focused on skill-building and strategies, there will be additional follow up resources available on this website for those topics, should you want to apply and practice the concepts discussed.

So there you have it! Check out the first episode - a short preview and introduction, which explains why I decided this podcast was so important.

Then be sure to subscribe to Exploring Food Allergy Families (wherever you listen to podcasts) so you don't miss future episodes!

Trust me, you won't want to miss any episodes, especially the next one, Exploring Food Allergy Dads' Experiences, where I will share insights from the recent survey, relevant guidance/tips, and chat with one of these amazing food allergy dads!

So, let's explore food allergy families together!

Podcast Episode site: https://exploringfoodallergyfamilies.buzzsprout.com/
Podcast Info: www.FoodAllergyFamilies.com (or Podcast section on this website )

- Your feedback is a gift that I truly value, so please feel free to share thoughts, topic ideas,
or feedback on whether topics explored on the podcast have been helpful. -

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New Tool To Better Understand How Allergies Impact Our Patients' Lives

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