Psychologists and the Transition From Pediatrics to Adult Health Care.
OBJECTIVE
Guidelines for optimal transition call for multidisciplinary teams, including psychologists, to address youth and young adults' multifactorial needs. This study aimed to characterize psychologists' roles in and barriers to involvement in transition from pediatric to adult health care.


METHODS
Psychologists were invited via professional listservs to complete an online survey about practice settings, roles in transition programming, barriers to involvement, and funding sources. Participants also responded to open-ended questions about their experiences in transition programs.


RESULTS
One hundred participants responded to the survey. Involvement in transition was reported at multiple levels from individual patient care to institutional transition programming, and 65% reported more than one level of involvement. Direct clinical care (88%), transition-related research (50%), and/or leadership (44%) involvement were reported, with 59% reporting more than one role. Respondents often described advocating for their involvement on transition teams. Various sources of funding were reported, yet, 23% reported no funding for their work. Barriers to work in transition were common and included health care systems issues such as poor coordination among providers or lack of a clear transition plan within the clinic/institution.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychologists assume numerous roles in the transition of adolescents from pediatric to adult health care. With training in health care transition-related issues, psychologists are ideally positioned to partner with other health professionals to develop and implement transition programs in multidisciplinary settings, provided health care system barriers can be overcome.
Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
Wendy N
WN
Gray
Center for Translational Science, Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia.
Maureen C
MC
Monaghan
Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
Jordan
J
Gilleland Marchak
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida.
Kimberly A
KA
Driscoll
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: marisa.hilliard@bcm.edu.
Marisa E
ME
Hilliard
D000067697:Adolescent Health; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010372:Pediatrics; D024382:Professional Role; D011584:Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D060305:Transition to Adult Care
Adolescent; Barriers; Behavioral medicine; Patient care; Pediatric; Psychology; Transition