A Patient-Focused, High-Impact Educational Module on Food Allergy with Free Online Resources: Feasibility and Implementation

Abstract

It is important for any allergy and immunology practice to be able to develop quickly and inexpensively educational modules focused on the needs of the local patient population. A free online educational module on food allergy was developed based on patient searches fielded in Google search engine in geographic area of Miami, Florida. Google Search Trends ranked most common queries. Free blog website by Google, Blogger.com included text based information provided by AAAAI, ACAAI and Food Allergy and Research network (FARE), action plan, training videos on epinephrine use, allergic reactions, patient/parent and school education. Pocket anaphylaxis cards and dining out cards were provided for download and print. A patient-focused, high-impact educational module for food allergy with free online resources was created with no previous coding experience, time required was 3 hours. The high-impact assessment is based on highest frequency search queries on food allergy topics by Google Search Trends. Module included 3 main domains – text, embeddable PDF files, videos. Navigation was provided by top level buttons and customized search engine. Visitor statistic tracker monitored highest traffic areas and share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and email were added. It is technologically feasible and time and cost effective to create a patient-focused, high-impact educational module for food allergy with free online resources. Most medical care is local and it is important to focus the educational information on the needs of the patients in each geographic area of the allergy and immunology practice. The above approach can be implemented around the world with far reaching implications.