16 January 2019:
School and youth camps provide a great opportunity for young people to get away with friends and try new things. For young people with food allergy and their parents, camps can be a stressful experience as they rely on the knowledge of others to manage their food allergy and respond in an unlikely emergency.
The National Allergy Strategy 250K youth camp is the first camp to be conducted specifically for teens and young adults living with food allergy. Thirty young people from across Australia will be participating in the camp as part of the National Allergy Strategy’s 250K Youth Project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.
The 250K youth camp aims to:
- bring teens and young adults with food allergy together to share their experiences and reduce social isolation and allow them to develop autonomy in managing their condition.
- provide an opportunity for camp participants to have fun whilst still learning about managing their health condition.
- provide an opportunity for camp participants can develop a sense of community, free of judgement without feeling like they are being singled out.
- help camp participants to learn how others deal with managing their health condition and provide positive experiences about navigating unfamiliar social situations.
- provide an opportunity for us to learn from young people so that we can engage more effectively with young people who live with potentially life-threatening allergies.
See website https://250k.org.auhere.