Maintaining a skilled and prepared workforce is both an essential competency and a persistent challenge in a highly fluid global environment. Those dedicated to direct support of student wellness face growing expectations of keeping their skills current as evolving student needs and issues become increasingly complex. This workshop is geared at upskilling EA professionals in understanding health and mental health travel risk considerations for college age populations. Together we’ll examine incident data, and learn about the most common illnesses, injuries, and conditions experienced or managed by our education abroad students. A medical doctor will provide the medical background and considerations while an international health, safety, and security professional will contribute the risk and logistics considerations of managing conditions across 4 categories: chronic disease, acute medical, traumatic injuries, behavioral.
Case studies will be used to illustrate best practice, emphasize the nuances of balancing stakeholder communication and student privacy, and generate discussions amongst participants. Attendees will emerge with trauma-informed response protocols to mitigate travel health risks, enhanced incident communication strategies, and tangible skills to navigate supporting students.
