Abstract
In the field of medical care, successful transition from pediatric-centered to adult-oriented healthcare can provide a sense of continuity in the development of youth, and prepare them to accept responsibility for and manage their own chronic kidney condition in complete autonomy. The so-called transition process requires the presence of some basic aspects: a multidisciplinary team, which acts as a bridge between child and adult services; a comprehensive clinical, cognitive, psychological, and social change for the young people; the involvement of family and caregivers. Within the framework of transition and chronicity during the developmental age, we selected international papers explaining models which agreed on some important steps in the transition process, although many differences can be observed between different countries. In fact, in Europe, the situation appears to be heterogeneous as regards certain aspects: the written transition plan, the educational programmes, the timing of transfer to adult services, the presence of a transition coordinator, a dedicated off-site transition clinic. We then analyzed some studies focusing on patients with renal diseases, including the first to contain a standardized protocol for transition which was launched recently in the USA, and which seems to have already achieved important positive, although limited, results. In Italy, the issue of transition is still in its infancy, however important efforts in the management of chronic kidney disease have already been initiated in some regions, including Emila Romagna, which gives us hope for the future of many young people.
Highlights
An Overview of Transitional CareThe term transitional care is a heterogeneous concept which incorporates a series of steps aimed at ensuring the coordination and continuity of care for patients who are transferred from one centre to another or between different levels of intensity of care [1,2,3]
Due to the progressive increase in the number of adolescents suffering from chronic diseases and the higher survival rates of a large number of children and adolescents affected by chronic diseases necessitating special care (SiQuAs-VRQ, 2014), the concept of transitional care has become ever more emergent over the last few years
A meeting between the two teams is planned to discuss the patient’s progress, and this is repeated until the patient is 26 years of age [20]. As this is a complex phenomenon, the current national transitional care project (SIQuAS-VRQ, 2014) was created with the objective of delivering homogeneous care during the passage from the pediatric to the adult age and was developed according to the best practice guidelines proposed by Donabedian [40]: active listening, the ability to work in a team, organizational quality, and relational quality
Summary
An Overview of Transitional CareThe term transitional care is a heterogeneous concept which incorporates a series of steps aimed at ensuring the coordination and continuity of care for patients who are transferred from one centre to another or between different levels of intensity of care [1,2,3]. In the field of medical care, successful transition from pediatric-centered to adult-oriented healthcare can provide a sense of continuity in the development of youth, and prepare them to accept responsibility for and manage their own chronic kidney condition in complete autonomy.
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