Improving the Pediatric to Adult Care Transition Experience: Recommendations from Young Adults with Complex Care Needs: A Scoping Review Protocol

Abstract

With advancements in modern medicine, an increasing number of youth with complex care needs (CCN) survive into adulthood. As service demands increase for this group, challenges exist on how to best facilitate meeting their needs as they transition from pediatric to adult health care. There is growing evidence of young adults describing their transition experiences and suggesting improvements to the design and delivery of these services. By synthesizing the existing literature, an increased understanding can be gained about the recommendations of those who have recently transitioned from pediatric to adult health care, thus improving both patient outcomes and experiences. This scoping review aims to comprehensively map recommendations on how to improve the transition from pediatric to adult health care based on the experiences of young adults (aged 18-30) with CCN. This study protocol outlines a scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature, following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodology. Literature will be identified using a comprehensive search strategy developed by a JBI-trained librarian. Papers involving primary studies with recommendations of young adults recently transitioned from pediatric to adult care will be included. Search strategy results will be screened by two independent reviewers and included studies will have duplicates removed and charted according to a modified PRISMA flow diagram. Working with the Centre for Research in Integrated Care at the University of New Brunswick, knowledge translation activities will involve targeted communication channels to a variety of knowledge users, such as researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Keywords: pediatric to adult transition, transition experience, complex care needs, scoping review, quality improvement, patient engagement