Health Forms 2.0

Improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental conditions allow today’s students with pre-existing health conditions, learning disabilities, and mobility challenges to enter college with every expectation to succeed. With planning and targeted support, these students can thrive on campus and abroad, but successful outcomes will depend on early disclosure and planning for health care needs. Most institutions have processes that allow a study abroad participant to disclose a health history for review or commentary. This article provides tips on improving predeparture health disclosures; it is not intended to cover travel vaccines or prophylactic medicines.

Legal Standard

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 prohibits discrimination against those with a wide variety of chronic health conditions and disabilities (both visible and invisible). Education abroad professionals continue to ask if the law prohibits denying a student access to an education abroad experience based on a health condition or disability. Consistent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on this matter is scarce, and there are even fewer lawsuits to instruct us. However, most institutions strive to comply with the spirit of the law when responding to student requests for reasonable accommodations abroad, which is enhanced when partnering with a high-quality health insurance and assistance provider abroad and support networks like Mobility International USA.

Foster a Culture of Support

Encouraging students to share applicable health histories with relevant parties on campus requires an “it takes a village” approach. Decades of working with college students inform