Article
Healthcare Transition for Youth with Special Healthcare Needs
NorthEast Florida Medicine
(2008)
Abstract
Because of medical advances in pediatric care, there are a growing number of individuals with childhood-onset chronic health conditions and disabilities who are aging out of pediatrics and are enter-ing the adult health care system. Today, 90% of children with conditions which were previously fatal in childhood are surviving into adulthood. Changes are needed in the organization, financing and delivery of care to assure this growing population of young adults has access to the services they require. Pediatric providers need to put in place transition practices recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the approaches for managing complex conditions articulated in the Chronic Care Model. This includes developing and implementing written transition plans for all adolescent patients, supporting youth's acquisition of self-management skills, linking youth to community-based supports and making use of transition-related training and resource materials that have been developed for adolescents and their families. Changes are also needed to ensure that young adults have adequate health insurance coverage and health care professionals are appropriately compensated for direct care services, health care transition planning, and care coor-dination. The JaxHATS Program is a primary care based approach for promoting the successful transition of youth with significant health care needs from pediatrics to adult care.
Keywords
- special healthcare needs,
- youth,
- healthcare transition
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 1, 2008
Citation Information
John Reiss, Linda Edwards, Paulette Daniel and David L. Wood. "Healthcare Transition for Youth with Special Healthcare Needs" NorthEast Florida Medicine Vol. 59 (2008) p. 10 - 16 ISSN: 2578-191X Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david-wood/19/