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Incorporating Healthcare Transition Readiness Assessment

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Health Care Transition

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Abstract

Transition readiness assessment is defined as the measurement of indicators that an adolescent or young adult with special health-care needs (AYASHCN) can successfully initiate, continue, and finish the process of transferring from pediatric-centered to adult-centered medical care. Despite national research and clinical initiatives focused on the promotion of transition readiness, there is evidence that routine transition readiness assessment is not in place for many AYASHCN and their families, ultimately posing risks for inadequate health-care utilization, morbidity, and mortality. Challenges to transition readiness assessment include the lack of well-validated measures, inadequate resources and training, and difficulties with care coordination across providers. In this chapter, we define transition readiness using an evidenced-based, social-ecological framework—the Social-ecological Model of AYA Readiness to Transition (SMART)—and provide an updated review of the available transition readiness assessment measures. We describe ways in which emerging transition readiness assessment research may be incorporated into routine clinical practice through quality improvement science. Finally, we discuss limitations of the current literature and provide opportunities for future research, including the need for rigorous validation studies with attention to multiple transition stakeholders, to develop psychometrically robust measures with strong clinical utility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Lisa A. Schwartz Ph.D. & Alexandra M. Psihogios Ph.D.

  2. Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Lisa A. Schwartz Ph.D.

  3. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Emily M. Fredericks Ph.D.

  4. University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Emily M. Fredericks Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Lisa A. Schwartz Ph.D.
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  2. Alexandra M. Psihogios Ph.D.
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  3. Emily M. Fredericks Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Lisa A. Schwartz Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Professor, Director of Research, Section of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA

    Albert C. Hergenroeder

  2. Professor, Chief of Adolescent Medicine, Section of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA

    Constance M. Wiemann

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Schwartz, L.A., Psihogios, A.M., Fredericks, E.M. (2018). Incorporating Healthcare Transition Readiness Assessment. In: Hergenroeder, A., Wiemann, C. (eds) Health Care Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72868-1_13

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