title: The challenge of transitional care for young people with life-limiting illness.
abstract: Transitional care for young people with life-limiting illness is a particularly complex issue. The process of moving from paediatric to adult services is often fraught and poorly planned. As a result, this can add to the distress experienced by the young people and their families. The ideal would be to have a dedicated service for young adults that bridges the gap in care. The continued slow growth of community children's nursing services, however, highlights the constraints in developing services for a relatively small percentage of the population. Healthcare professionals must recognize the specialist needs of this patient group, and develop strategies to ensure that young people receive the care to which they are entitled.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child Health, School of Health Science, University of Wales, Swansea, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Eryl Zac
authors.initials: EZ
authors.lastname: Maunder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002388:Catastrophic Illness / Q000451:nursing*; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010166:Palliative Care