Digital Health Integration in Schools: Advancing Food Allergy Management

A recent systematic review finds school-delivered digital health interventions improve staff preparedness, family confidence, and student inclusion for food allergy management.

Digital training consistently raised staff knowledge and readiness across e-learning modules, simulation videos, and decision aids. Studies reported higher knowledge scores, increased confidence/self-efficacy, and more accurate adrenaline auto‑injector use in simulated assessments. Multiple school-based programs summarized in the review—with varied sample sizes and heterogeneous outcome measures—compose the evidence base for digital training programs. These results suggest digital training can help standardize baseline competence across diverse school settings.

For families, parent-facing formats—mobile messaging, portals, and modular education—improved health literacy, caregiver confidence, and early management behaviors while reducing uncertainty. Across included studies, parent-focused interventions were linked to psychological benefits and measurable gains in caregiver knowledge and reported management practices, which can reduce family anxiety and support decisions about school attendance.

Child-facing tools promoted coping, peer inclusion, and emotional resilience. Interactive apps, gamified learning, and classroom modules improved self-efficacy, coping skills, and peer interactions on qualitative and quantitative endpoints. The review did not show robust reductions in anaphylaxis rates or emergency events; psychosocial and behavioral improvements were the clearest consistent signal and align with better school participation for allergic students.