We try to run workshops every year that are of interest to our members. If you would like to suggest a topic, send us a message. We can add you to our email list so you can stay informed about other upcoming events. Our active Facebook group is a great place to receive support and ask questions.
Upcoming MVAG sessions on Monday May 29, 2017 or Tuesday May 30, 2017. See details in the poster below. Hope to see you there!
FOOD ALLERGY CANADA FOCUS GROUP AND INTERACTIVE EDUCATION SESSION
Do you want an opportunity to share your experience and help other newly diagnosed food families? Do you want to gain confidence and skills in managing an anaphylactic reaction?
If so, please join Food Allergy Canada for a focus group and interactive education session facilitated by Laura Bantock RN, Director, Western Region on Wednesday February 24th in Burnaby (see poster for more details).
During the focus group (10:00am until 12:00pm) you will have an opportunity to talk about your experience following your child's diagnosis of food allergy (i.e. what supports helped you cope? what supports did you wish were available at the time of diagnosis?). Food Allergy Canada wants to develop more support services for the newly diagnosed and your input will help!
The interactive education session, "Who's Afraid of Epinephrine: emergency management of anaphylaxis" (12:30pm until 2:00pm), will provide participants with hands on skills in managing an anaphylactic emergency (practice with a trainer auto-injector, learn important information on body positioning and ask any questions you may have).
Please contact foodallergywest@gmail.com to register for the focus group and education session. Please specify which session you wish to attend and include your full name and telephone number in the email. There are space limitations for the focus group but we can accommodate a larger group for the education session. You will receive an email to confirm your space in one or both sessions.
Do you want an opportunity to share your experience and help other newly diagnosed food families? Do you want to gain confidence and skills in managing an anaphylactic reaction?
If so, please join Food Allergy Canada for a focus group and interactive education session facilitated by Laura Bantock RN, Director, Western Region on Wednesday February 24th in Burnaby (see poster for more details).
During the focus group (10:00am until 12:00pm) you will have an opportunity to talk about your experience following your child's diagnosis of food allergy (i.e. what supports helped you cope? what supports did you wish were available at the time of diagnosis?). Food Allergy Canada wants to develop more support services for the newly diagnosed and your input will help!
The interactive education session, "Who's Afraid of Epinephrine: emergency management of anaphylaxis" (12:30pm until 2:00pm), will provide participants with hands on skills in managing an anaphylactic emergency (practice with a trainer auto-injector, learn important information on body positioning and ask any questions you may have).
Please contact foodallergywest@gmail.com to register for the focus group and education session. Please specify which session you wish to attend and include your full name and telephone number in the email. There are space limitations for the focus group but we can accommodate a larger group for the education session. You will receive an email to confirm your space in one or both sessions.
MVAG WORKSHOP: COPING WITH ANXIETY RELATED TO LIFE THREATENING ALLERGIES
We are excited to announce a date for the Anxiety Workshop.
When: Saturday, November 28th 2015 from 9am-12pm.
Where: Meeting Room #1, Burnaby Lake Sports Complex on Kensington, just off Highway 1 Map This location is also accessible by bus.
Cost: $30 per person
Coping with Anxiety Related to Life Threatening Allergies is an informative and interactive workshop based on Dr. Gordon Neufeld’s material. It is aimed for parents who want to explore the experience of anxiety, consider how it helps, evaluate how it hinders, and develop strategies to mitigate anxiety in ourselves as well as our children. Get ready to be inspired with creative ideas and a chance to connect with other parents.
Presenter Rebecca Janke is a parent of a child with severe allergies and is a registered social worker who specializes in working with all types of family constellations. For more information about Rebecca visit:www.rebeccajanke.ca or about Dr. Neufeld visit: www.neufeldinstitute.com
Register through Eventbrite by clicking here.
More details in the poster below. Please forward it to others who might be interested.
Thanks, and hope to see you there.
Elaine, Stephanie and Rebecca
We are excited to announce a date for the Anxiety Workshop.
When: Saturday, November 28th 2015 from 9am-12pm.
Where: Meeting Room #1, Burnaby Lake Sports Complex on Kensington, just off Highway 1 Map This location is also accessible by bus.
Cost: $30 per person
Coping with Anxiety Related to Life Threatening Allergies is an informative and interactive workshop based on Dr. Gordon Neufeld’s material. It is aimed for parents who want to explore the experience of anxiety, consider how it helps, evaluate how it hinders, and develop strategies to mitigate anxiety in ourselves as well as our children. Get ready to be inspired with creative ideas and a chance to connect with other parents.
Presenter Rebecca Janke is a parent of a child with severe allergies and is a registered social worker who specializes in working with all types of family constellations. For more information about Rebecca visit:www.rebeccajanke.ca or about Dr. Neufeld visit: www.neufeldinstitute.com
Register through Eventbrite by clicking here.
More details in the poster below. Please forward it to others who might be interested.
Thanks, and hope to see you there.
Elaine, Stephanie and Rebecca
| anxiety_workshop_poster_oct7.pdf |
INFORMATION REGARDING MILK ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY TRIAL AT BC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Dear Metro Vancouver Anaphylaxis Group,
We would like to make you aware of a study for Oral Immunotherapy for milk allergy, which has been approved through UBC ethics department. We would like to invite you to consider passing on a letter outlining the study with a description and invitation to families of children who may qualify or be interested in participating in the study. The study will take place at BC Children’s hospital and is part of a study already underway at Montreal Children’s Hospital.
This study will assess a protocol for Oral immunotherapy for milk, (a process to teach the body not to be allergic to milk) potentially increasing the safety margin for consumption of milk in allergic children. The information collected from this study may also help us better understand and design future therapies. Participants must be 6 six years of age or older, have documented milk allergy, and previous allergic reaction when exposed to milk and either a positive skin prick test or positive blood test to milk.
Exclusion criteria include patients with uncontrolled asthma or other respiratory diseases, malignancies, or other autoimmune diseases.
If you are interested or would like more information, can you please contact Ingrid at the following?
Ingrid Baerg, research nurse, study coordinator: ibaerg@cw.bc.ca or call: 604-875-2345 extension 7461
Thank you,
Edmond Chan, MD, FRCPC, Site principal investigator
Ingrid Baerg, RN, Site research coordinator
Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Pediatrics (UBC)
BC Children's Hospital, Allergy Clinic, Room 1C31B
4480 Oak St, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4
Click here to see patient information letter from the researchers.
FOOD ALLERGY AWARENESS VIDEO CAMPAIGN
We wanted you to be aware of what our program coordinator Kyle Dine is doing right now. Kyle is busy raising funds for his new “Kyle Dine and Friends Food Allergy Awareness Video” – allergy information for Elementary Students. As you know Kyle travels the world raising awareness about food allergies and entertaining children at the same time. Now he is putting together two videos, one for Kindergarten to grade 2 and the second from grade 3 to 6.
Take a look at his Kickstarter Page. and support the campaign!
Way to go Kyle!
info@anaphylaxis.ca
'How to Work with Your Child's School' workshop from 7-9pm on Thursday, October 9th, 2014 in Burnaby.
Location: Fireside Room at the Faith Lutheran Church located at 1005 Kensington Avenue in Burnaby. South West corner of Kensington and Curtis, which is just south of Hastings. Parking lot entrance on Kensington.
Laura Bantock, Stephanie and Elaine will provide the following information:
Partnering with your school
Understanding the landscape of public schools in BC
Effective methods of communicating with your school
How to avoid typical pitfalls
What tools are available (legislation, school board policy, etc.) that are relevant to BC
Access to an 'Allergy Management in Schools' online binder, which you can create, customize, and take to your school
Role playing (watching only! no acting required) showing positive and negative school interaction
Case studies
How to teach others emergency management
How to draft a plan for your child
How to teach others to use an autoinjector
Q&As
Please email us at metrovancouveranaphylaxis@gmail.com if you wish to attend so we know how many people to expect.
NEW ANAPHYLAXIS EDUCATION TOOL:
The new online course “Anaphylaxis in Schools: What Educators Need to Know” is now available! Developed by Anaphylaxis Canada in collaboration with Leap Learning Technologies Inc. and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the new course focuses on the prevention, recognition, and management of anaphylaxis.
Available for free in English and French, the course uses best practices in instructional design and multimedia learning, incorporating graphics, audionarration, practice scenarios, and step-by-step visual guides to provide an engaging learning experience for teachers, administrators, and other school staff.
The bilingual course is available now at www.allergyaware.ca and we encourage you to share this link with your school and others to help protect students with potentially life-threatening allergies.
We would like to acknowledge the various supporters of this initiative, including provincial and territorial governments, private donors, and our premier founding sponsor TELUS.
For your information,
Anaphylaxis Canada
GROUP MEETING and PRESENTATION FROM DR. EDMOND CHAN - June 2014:
Dr. Chan is a leading pediatric allergist and food allergy researcher in Vancouver who works at BC Children's Hospital. He spoke to our group about current research for allergy treatments, including Oral Immunotherapy, allergy management, introducing new foods and other allergy topics. Here is more information about Dr Chan. http://cfri.ca/our-research/researchers/results/Details/edmond-s-chan
Please click here for PowerPoint slides that were presented at the session.
NOTES from BC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL GRAND ROUNDS, JANUARY 10, 2014:
Topic: The Burden of Food Allergy
Presenter: Dr. Wade Watson, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Paediatrics, Dalhousie University
Head, Division of Allergy, IWK Health Centre
Please click on the red link above to read the notes. This presentation highlights studies that examine how food allergies in children can negatively impact the quality of life for the child and the parents. Food allergies affect the ability to carry out basic activities of daily living, can complicate social dynamics (including increased risk of bullying) and add to overall stress, fear and anxiety. Since this information was geared towards paediatric physicians, it also includes strategies doctors can use to reduce the impact of anxiety, stress and fear in children and families dealing with food allergies.
NEW FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH STUDY:
Below is information for those who may be interested in participating in research pertaining to food allergies. The study is supported by Anaphylaxis Canada....
FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH: Evaluating a New Food Allergy Handbook for Parents
Do you have a child who was recently diagnosed with a food allergy?
Boston Children’s Hospital is conducting a research study to find out whether a new handbook about managing food allergies will be helpful for parents. We want to find out whether the handbook improves parents’ knowledge about taking care of food allergies and their emotional stress about food allergies. We are also interested in parents’ opinions about whether the handbook is helpful for them.
You may qualify to participate for this study, if your child is 0 to 18 years old, was diagnosed with a food allergy by a doctor in the past 12 months, and has been prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector.
If you decide to participate in this research study, you will be asked to complete a 30-minute study online survey at three times:
• At the start of the study (baseline)
• About 2 weeks after baseline
• About 2 months after baseline
You will be randomized (chosen by chance, like the flip of a coin) to either receive the food allergy handbook after the baseline survey, or after the study is over.
Participating parents will be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift card. You will have an approximately one in six chance of winning.
If you are interested in participating or learning more about this study, please contact Dr. Jennifer LeBovidge, the Principal Investigator of the study, at FoodAllergyHandbook@childrens.harvard.edu or 617-355-2195.
This study is supported by Anaphylaxis Canada thanks to funding from The Sean Delaney Memorial Golf Classic.
Dear Metro Vancouver Anaphylaxis Group,
We would like to make you aware of a study for Oral Immunotherapy for milk allergy, which has been approved through UBC ethics department. We would like to invite you to consider passing on a letter outlining the study with a description and invitation to families of children who may qualify or be interested in participating in the study. The study will take place at BC Children’s hospital and is part of a study already underway at Montreal Children’s Hospital.
This study will assess a protocol for Oral immunotherapy for milk, (a process to teach the body not to be allergic to milk) potentially increasing the safety margin for consumption of milk in allergic children. The information collected from this study may also help us better understand and design future therapies. Participants must be 6 six years of age or older, have documented milk allergy, and previous allergic reaction when exposed to milk and either a positive skin prick test or positive blood test to milk.
Exclusion criteria include patients with uncontrolled asthma or other respiratory diseases, malignancies, or other autoimmune diseases.
If you are interested or would like more information, can you please contact Ingrid at the following?
Ingrid Baerg, research nurse, study coordinator: ibaerg@cw.bc.ca or call: 604-875-2345 extension 7461
Thank you,
Edmond Chan, MD, FRCPC, Site principal investigator
Ingrid Baerg, RN, Site research coordinator
Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Pediatrics (UBC)
BC Children's Hospital, Allergy Clinic, Room 1C31B
4480 Oak St, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4
Click here to see patient information letter from the researchers.
FOOD ALLERGY AWARENESS VIDEO CAMPAIGN
We wanted you to be aware of what our program coordinator Kyle Dine is doing right now. Kyle is busy raising funds for his new “Kyle Dine and Friends Food Allergy Awareness Video” – allergy information for Elementary Students. As you know Kyle travels the world raising awareness about food allergies and entertaining children at the same time. Now he is putting together two videos, one for Kindergarten to grade 2 and the second from grade 3 to 6.
Take a look at his Kickstarter Page. and support the campaign!
Way to go Kyle!
info@anaphylaxis.ca
'How to Work with Your Child's School' workshop from 7-9pm on Thursday, October 9th, 2014 in Burnaby.
Location: Fireside Room at the Faith Lutheran Church located at 1005 Kensington Avenue in Burnaby. South West corner of Kensington and Curtis, which is just south of Hastings. Parking lot entrance on Kensington.
Laura Bantock, Stephanie and Elaine will provide the following information:
Partnering with your school
Understanding the landscape of public schools in BC
Effective methods of communicating with your school
How to avoid typical pitfalls
What tools are available (legislation, school board policy, etc.) that are relevant to BC
Access to an 'Allergy Management in Schools' online binder, which you can create, customize, and take to your school
Role playing (watching only! no acting required) showing positive and negative school interaction
Case studies
How to teach others emergency management
How to draft a plan for your child
How to teach others to use an autoinjector
Q&As
Please email us at metrovancouveranaphylaxis@gmail.com if you wish to attend so we know how many people to expect.
NEW ANAPHYLAXIS EDUCATION TOOL:
The new online course “Anaphylaxis in Schools: What Educators Need to Know” is now available! Developed by Anaphylaxis Canada in collaboration with Leap Learning Technologies Inc. and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the new course focuses on the prevention, recognition, and management of anaphylaxis.
Available for free in English and French, the course uses best practices in instructional design and multimedia learning, incorporating graphics, audionarration, practice scenarios, and step-by-step visual guides to provide an engaging learning experience for teachers, administrators, and other school staff.
The bilingual course is available now at www.allergyaware.ca and we encourage you to share this link with your school and others to help protect students with potentially life-threatening allergies.
We would like to acknowledge the various supporters of this initiative, including provincial and territorial governments, private donors, and our premier founding sponsor TELUS.
For your information,
Anaphylaxis Canada
GROUP MEETING and PRESENTATION FROM DR. EDMOND CHAN - June 2014:
Dr. Chan is a leading pediatric allergist and food allergy researcher in Vancouver who works at BC Children's Hospital. He spoke to our group about current research for allergy treatments, including Oral Immunotherapy, allergy management, introducing new foods and other allergy topics. Here is more information about Dr Chan. http://cfri.ca/our-research/researchers/results/Details/edmond-s-chan
Please click here for PowerPoint slides that were presented at the session.
NOTES from BC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL GRAND ROUNDS, JANUARY 10, 2014:
Topic: The Burden of Food Allergy
Presenter: Dr. Wade Watson, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Paediatrics, Dalhousie University
Head, Division of Allergy, IWK Health Centre
Please click on the red link above to read the notes. This presentation highlights studies that examine how food allergies in children can negatively impact the quality of life for the child and the parents. Food allergies affect the ability to carry out basic activities of daily living, can complicate social dynamics (including increased risk of bullying) and add to overall stress, fear and anxiety. Since this information was geared towards paediatric physicians, it also includes strategies doctors can use to reduce the impact of anxiety, stress and fear in children and families dealing with food allergies.
NEW FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH STUDY:
Below is information for those who may be interested in participating in research pertaining to food allergies. The study is supported by Anaphylaxis Canada....
FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH: Evaluating a New Food Allergy Handbook for Parents
Do you have a child who was recently diagnosed with a food allergy?
Boston Children’s Hospital is conducting a research study to find out whether a new handbook about managing food allergies will be helpful for parents. We want to find out whether the handbook improves parents’ knowledge about taking care of food allergies and their emotional stress about food allergies. We are also interested in parents’ opinions about whether the handbook is helpful for them.
You may qualify to participate for this study, if your child is 0 to 18 years old, was diagnosed with a food allergy by a doctor in the past 12 months, and has been prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector.
If you decide to participate in this research study, you will be asked to complete a 30-minute study online survey at three times:
• At the start of the study (baseline)
• About 2 weeks after baseline
• About 2 months after baseline
You will be randomized (chosen by chance, like the flip of a coin) to either receive the food allergy handbook after the baseline survey, or after the study is over.
Participating parents will be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift card. You will have an approximately one in six chance of winning.
If you are interested in participating or learning more about this study, please contact Dr. Jennifer LeBovidge, the Principal Investigator of the study, at FoodAllergyHandbook@childrens.harvard.edu or 617-355-2195.
This study is supported by Anaphylaxis Canada thanks to funding from The Sean Delaney Memorial Golf Classic.