When Every Meal Brings Fear: New Initiative for Families with Food Allergies

The Meir Medical Center is launching a first-of-its-kind online workshop for parents of children with food allergies. Led by a medical psychologist, the workshop aims to give parents tools to cope with the vigilance, anxiety, and burnout that come with living alongside a life-threatening medical condition. It includes techniques for emotional regulation, mindfulness, and family communication.

The Meir Medical Center, part of Clalit Health Services, has launched a first-of-its-kind online workshop for parents of children with food allergies. The workshop, led by a medical psychologist, aims to provide parents with tools to cope with the ongoing vigilance, anxiety, and burnout associated with living with a potentially life-threatening medical condition. According to Dan Aloni, a medical psychologist specializing at the center, parents face complex challenges daily, and the workshop offers them knowledge, tools, and emotional support. The sessions provide practical tools for dealing with uncertainty, emotional regulation techniques, mindfulness, family communication, and stress management. They also address questions such as fostering the child's independence without increasing risk, and dealing with educational staff. Aloni emphasizes that the goal is not to downplay the medical danger, but to enable parents to cope with it in a more balanced way. Food allergy is one of the most common allergic diseases in childhood, and its prevalence is rising worldwide and in Israel. Alongside the child's medical treatment, strengthening the parents' mental resilience is important.