Transitioning from paediatric to adult healthcare: Exploring the practices and experiences of care providers.
Jennifer Splane, Shelley Doucet, Alison Luke
PMID 37728067WHAT IT FOUND
Fifteen providers supporting youth with complex needs described paediatric-to-adult transitions as variable, under-resourced and dependent on individual effort.
They proposed navigators, overlap care, virtual visits and better knowledge of adult services.
Key findings
01Transition timing varied from a month or two to several years before transfer; most paediatric-focused participants saw patients until age 18 or 19 or high school graduation, while adult-focused participants began seeing youth at age 18.
02Participants seldom used transition tools or resources and often could not identify adult services, with waitlists, missing specialties, travel costs and language barriers described as barriers.
03Participants proposed a transition navigator or coordinator, an overlap period between paediatric and adult providers, and virtual visits to support continuity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 15 care providers were interviewed, and no youth or caregivers were included, so the findings are provider perspectives rather than patient outcomes. Most participants were from larger urban English-speaking centres in New Brunswick, with few rural or Francophone participants. Most participants were paediatric providers, and primary care providers were primarily nurse practitioners, so views may not represent all provider types. The study reports themes from interviews, not evidence that any proposed transition strategy improves health, service use or care quality.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the proposed navigator, overlap care or virtual visits as proven transition strategies. The study reports experiences and recommendations from 15 providers, not patient outcomes or tested interventions.