by Amanda Pope
The policy, PPM 161, ensures students with conditions such as anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy have a ‘plan of care’
Ontario is making schools safer for students with dietary and medical conditions, by requiring school boards to provide individual care plans for these students to manage their daily medical needs.
Students with conditions such as anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy will have a “plan of care” in place. This will outline how the student is to be supported at school, including how their daily routine management needs will be met and emergency procedures.
Education Minister, Mitzie Hunter made the announcement on Oct. 24 about the new policy known as “Supporting Children and Students with Prevalent Medical Conditions” or PPM 161. She said this is an important step in supporting the physical health of students.
“Helping to ensure the safety of students with prevalent medical conditions in school settings is critical to promoting well-being,” said Hunter. “An important part of supporting well-being, as well as inspiring confidence in publicly-funded education, is working to ensure that our schools are healthy and safe for all students.”
‘It can save a child’s life’
Infographic by Rosemary Akpan
More than one million Ontarians are affected by a food allergy and there are about 138,000 students in Ontario with food allergies.
Laurie Harada, the executive director of Food Allergy Canada, said community support is important to ensuring that parents feel safe when sending their children to school.
“There is a lot that parents need to do,” Harada said, “and a lot that we need to do about teaching our kids so they can self-enforce and self-manage. When you have a [food allergy] that can be life-threatening it doesn’t matter how old you are, you will benefit from someone helping and knowing what to do.”
Harada said that with the policy in place, “people will know what to do before something happens. The outcome is going to be a lot better if people know what to do and they understand the condition so they can act quickly. It can save a child’s life.”
Members of the Ministry of Education are working with education partners, health organizations and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to build on this policy and continue to strengthen supports for students with medical conditions in schools.
Kathryn Underwood, an associate professor at the School of Early Childhood Studies, said she is skeptical of the effectiveness of the new policy.
Listen to Underwood share how her son saved the life of his friend who has anaphylaxis.
Underwood said that there are currently individualized education plans for students with disabilities, but she said that many teachers do not read them.
“People fill out the individualized plan because they are required to by law but then they don’t look at it,” she said.
“Potentially [the policy] could make teachers feel a lot more comfortable about having students with significant [dietary] conditions. But it will take more than them just reading the plan, it involves them actually being in a relationship with students,” she said.
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