Health and Safety Concerns While Abroad

This is one of the main concerns for many parents. Parents and students have a role in minimizing risky situations while abroad. Help us educate your student on ways to stay safe in another country. Communicate with your student about health care and health-related issues. Prepare him/her with the information and skills to make informed decisions while abroad. Make sure your student possesses important pieces of his/her medical history or health information for times when he/she may need to access care while abroad.

Discuss safety and health precautions with your son or daughter before departure and after arrival. Emphasize how important it is that he or she maintain regular communication with the EAP Study Center while abroad. The Study Center is the immediate source of assistance to students in both routine and urgent matters. It is important that students carry, at all times, the 24/7 contact information for the EAP Study Center and local emergency services.

Be aware that EAP cannot release information about your student without his/her written consent, except as required by law.

UCEAP staff in the U.S. and abroad have vast knowledge and experience in dealing with health and safety issues; they monitor safety and potential health issues in each country and region where EAP programs are located and have comprehensive emergency procedures in place to manage possible incidents.

All students receive health and safety information, both general and specific to their destination, before departure and after arrival during on-site orientation. Make sure both you and your son or daughter have thoroughly reviewed the information EAP provides for health and safety.

EAP strongly urges students to fully disclose any physical or mental health issues before departure on the relevant health forms to ensure that appropriate preparatory advice and ongoing support is made available as needed. This information is also critically important in the event of an emergency.

Before traveling during scheduled program breaks or weekends, students must always inform the EAP Study Center of their plans and seek advice and information regarding safety precautions for their destinations.

Encourage your son or daughter to regularly review the U.S. Department of State information for the study location and for any destinations he or she plans to visit during program breaks or weekends, as well as general Department of State advice for U.S. citizens and students abroad.

Recommendations

In education abroad, as in other settings, parents, guardians, and families can play an important role in the health and safety of participants by helping them make decisions and by influencing their behavior while abroad.

Parents, guardians, and other family members should:

• Be informed about and involved in the decision of the student to enroll in a particular program
• Obtain and carefully evaluate EAP program materials, as well as related health, safety, and security information
• Discuss with the student any of his or her travel plans and activities that are independent of the program
• Engage the student in a thorough discussion of safety and behavior issues, insurance needs, and emergency procedures related to living and studying abroad
• Keep in touch with the student while on EAP
• Be aware that the student, rather than the program, may most appropriately provide some information

UCEAP Policy Limitations

The University of California Education Abroad Program provides information for required predeparture and on-site orientation sessions that cover health and safety topics. However, UCEAP cannot:

• Guarantee the safety of participants or ensure that risk will not be, at times, greater or similar than on a UC campus
• Eliminate all risks from the EAP environments abroad
• Monitor or control the daily personal decisions, choices, or activities of individual participants
• Prevent participants from engaging in illegal, dangerous, or unwise activities
• Assure that U.S. standards of due process apply in legal proceedings or provide or pay for legal representation for participants
• Assume responsibility for situations that may arise due to the failure of a participant to disclose pertinent information
• Assure that American cultural values and norms will apply in the host country

Emergencies

Many students and their families have concerns about safety and security abroad, especially in today’s world. Education abroad, like most other things in life, involves potential risk. No one can guarantee student security either in the US or abroad, but EAP makes every reasonable effort to ensure a safe environment for its students, and to counsel students on potential risks and necessary precautions. Please refer to the Student Safety chapter in the General Information Guide for more information.

Personal Emergency

If your son or daughter experiences a personal emergency while abroad, he or she should immediately contact the UC Study Center Director, Liaison Officer, or UC Study Center staff. These UC Study Center faculty or staff will address your son’s or daughter’s needs and will work closely with the appropriate staff at UOEAP.

If you believe that your son or daughter is facing a personal emergency that he or she has not reported to the Study Center, contact UOEAP staff directly by phone at UOEAP’s main office number: (805) 893-4762. An attendant takes calls at this number 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will refer your call to the appropriate EAP staff. In the event of an actual emergency, the appropriate person will return your call as soon as possible. Non-emergency calls will be returned the next business day.

Program, Region, or Country Emergencies

When there is an emergency affecting an entire program, region, or country (e.g., SARS, an earthquake, safety risk, etc.), check the EAP Current Alerts page. EAP regularly posts factual and updated information about situations abroad and indicates what actions are being pursued regarding the protection of EAP students.

Health

All participants are required to have a health clearance as a condition to participation. Please refer to the Health chapter of the EAP General Information Guide for additional information.

Psychological Health Issues

UC, Federal, and State privacy laws protect and ensure the confidentiality of medical information; therefore, EAP cannot require students to disclose a psychological health disorder for which they have been or are being treated before their departure, especially if continued care is recommended.

A successful EAP experience requires preparation, which includes planning so psychological health needs may be met while abroad. Therefore, EAP strongly encourages students to disclose such disorders before their departure with specific EAP staff on a need-to-know basis. EAP’s experienced and knowledgeable staff can then better provide the appropriate advice and support before departure regarding availability and legality of medications, therapist support, etc. Discuss this important issue with your son or daughter before departure. EAP can work with you to ensure that your son or daughter has a plan in place should a condition worsen while abroad.

If your son or daughter begins to experience psychological health problems after their arrival at their EAP location, he or she should contact the Study Center staff immediately. If you suspect a problem, encourage your son or daughter to seek appropriate help. The stresses of travel and life in an unfamiliar setting can exacerbate existing mild psychological disorders while studying abroad. If you believe that your son or daughter is experiencing serious psychological health problems, contact UOEAP immediately. Please visit the Health chapter of the EAP General Information Guide for more information.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Unfortunately, it is a fact that some UC students have serious alcohol and/or drug abuse problems. It is also the case that alcohol and drug abuse problems have surfaced among the students studying abroad on EAP. Alcohol and/or drug abuse is a serious issue for UC students; it is even more complicated and dangerous for your son or daughter while they are studying abroad. Local laws, coupled with differing cultural, religious, or political views regarding alcohol and drug abuse, can have potentially dire consequences for your son or daughter. Impress upon your son or daughter the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse and the importance of adhering to EAP’s Substance Abuse Policy while they are studying abroad.

Insurance

Student Insurance

UCEAP requires, and provides, accident/sickness insurance for all EAP students as a condition of UC enrollment.

Detailed information about insurance can be accessed through the Participants section of the EAP website on the Insurance tab.

EAP participants are automatically covered by the EAP Health Insurance Plan. It is provided at no cost to UC students participating in EAP. The mandatory EAP health insurance plan is provided by ACE, USA, Insurance Company through Mercer. The term of coverage is up to 12 months, which can be extended to a maximum of 15 months for any insured person participating in EAP whose requirements stretch beyond the normal 12-month period of insurance. EAP participants are covered through the duration of their EAP status and up to 31 days after the end date of the program.

The UCEAP insurance policy includes the following benefits: emergency medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, prescription drugs, birth control, lost baggage, and personal property, among others. Refer to page 4 of the EAP Health Insurance Plan brochure for a chart of benefits.

University of California Traveler Insurance Coverage

All students (and their dependents) are covered for security extraction when the student is participating in off-campus University-sponsored activities. The UC Travelers Insurance for students is supplemental insurance. It does not take the place of EAP’s Health Insurance Plan. Students cannot opt out of EAP insurance.

The UC Traveler Insurance is provided at no cost to students.

Students who complete the online form for EAP travel will be covered for security evacuation and other benefits while participating in EAP activities.

All students have received detailed instructions in their EAP acceptance packets and should have registered before leaving the U.S.

For online registration, complete the UC Business Travel form. The form is self-explanatory. Under the “Purpose of Trip” section, students must choose “Study through UCEAP,” and for UC location students must choose “UCEAP.”

Optional Extension of the EAP Health Insurance Plan While Abroad

Refer to the Insurance Coverage chapter of the General Information Guide for information on Optional Extension of the EAP Health Insurance While Abroad.

Gap in Health Insurance Coverage

For information on the EAP Gap Health Insurance, refer to Insurance Coverage in the General Information Guide.

Personal Property Insurance

As on any UC campus, all students are responsible for their personal property. While EAP provides property insurance (in addition to other benefits), EAP strongly encourages students to review the policy in detail, ask questions, and assess whether the coverage will be adequate. If it is not sufficient, students should consider purchasing additional personal property insurance to cover possessions such as cameras, calculators, PDAs, and laptops while abroad.

Accidental damage is the number-one cause of computer losses. Theft is number two.