The Transition Journey: Time to Systematically Address Transition Planning to Adult Health Care.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: YSHCN — : youth with special health care needs Since the 1970s, researchers and clinicians have documented the difficulties and subsequent poor health outcomes experienced by youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) during the transition from pediatric to adult health care. In 2002, Pediatrics published the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of improving the transition of care for YSHCN from pediatric- to adult-focused care1 as a step toward meeting the goals of Healthy People 2010 . The recommendations specified that all YSHCN have appropriate transition and transfer planning through education and generation of a transfer summary. The goal was to ensure “high-quality, developmentally appropriate health care services are available in an uninterrupted manner as the person moves from adolescence” to “maximize lifelong functioning and well-being for all youth”2 regardless of whether the individual has a special health care need. Sixteen years later, in this issue of Pediatrics , Lebrun-Harris et al3 visit the follow-up question: What is the current state of health care transition planning in the United States? Perhaps, after over 40 years of discussing improvements in transition, … Address correspondence to Megumi J. Okumura, MD, MAS, Division of General Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St STE 245, San Francisco, CA 94118. E-mail: megumi.okumura{at}ucsf.edu