Transitioning care of the pediatric recipient to adult caregivers.
The development of transitional care is one of the major challenges for the twenty-first century as the survival rates and medical outcomes for child and adolescent recipients of solid organ transplants continue to improve. Such developments must include pediatric and adult care providers and require training of professionals in both arenas. Transition is a process in which the transfer to adult care is only one event within that process. The key elements of transition for pediatric recipients are discussed, and the importance of a coordinated, structured, multidisciplinary approach involving the adolescents themselves is highlighted.
McDonagh
Janet E
JE
Institute of Child Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust, Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham B4 6NH, UK. j.e.mcdonagh@bham.ac.uk
Kelly
Deirdre A
DA
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004651:Employment; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000458:organization & administration