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The role and the composition of a liaison team to facilitate the transition of adolescents and young adults: an umbrella review

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Abstract

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) benefit from healthcare transition (HCT) programs. Despite the well-established literature reviewing HCT, a considerable heterogeneity exists on the involved healthcare professionals. This review aims to explore systematic reviews on the practices and recommendations on which disciplines of professionals should be involved in HCT. An umbrella review was performed using the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. To be eligible, systematic reviews had to report on the composition and/or the rationale of members of a transition team. Seventeen reviews were included in this systematic review. A healthcare professional that coordinates HCT was identified as a key caregiver in all reviews. Other reported members of a HCT team were nurses (75% of the reviews), social workers (44%), and peers/mentors (35%). The reported key responsibilities of a HCT team were to (i) manage communication, (ii) ensure continuity of care, and (iii) maintain contact with community services.

  Conclusions: A team responsible for HCT should be active on the organizational, medical, and social levels. Key members of a HCT team vary little between diseases and included a coordinator, social worker, and nurse. A coordinating physician could facilitate transition in complex conditions. At all times, the condition and needs of the AYA should determine who should be involved as caregiver.

What is Known:

• The psychosocial needs of adolescents and young adults during healthcare transition are largely similar between chronic diseases.

What is New:

• Coordinators, nurses and social workers were the most involved, independent of the condition.

• A liaison team should be active on organizational-, medical- and social-levels.

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Abbreviations

AYAs:

Adolescents and young adults

CCA:

Corrected covered area

HCT:

Healthcare transition

PRISMA:

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Renal Division, Ghent University Hospital, Corneel-Heymanslaan 10, Ghent, 9000, Belgium

    Karsten Vanden Wyngaert & Wim Van Biesen

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Marie-Lise Nédée, Odile Piessevaux & Tine De Martelaer

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology Division, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

    Veronique Cocquyt

  4. Pediatric Pulmonology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

    Sabine Van Daele

  5. Cancer center, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

    Johan De Munter

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  1. Karsten Vanden Wyngaert
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Contributions

K.VW, ML.D, O.P, and T.DM wrote the main manuscript. K.VW prepared all tables, figures, and supplementary files. K.VW, ML.D, O.P, and T.DM performed the screening process, data extraction, as well as the quality assessment of the included studies. K.VW, W.VB, S.VD, V.Q, and J.DM were involved during the conceptualization of the review and supervised the process. All authors reviewed the manuscript. K.VW, W.VB, and S.VD addressed the editorial and reviewers’ comments during the peer review process.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karsten Vanden Wyngaert.

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Communicated by Gregorio Milani.

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Wyngaert, K.V., Nédée, ML., Piessevaux, O. et al. The role and the composition of a liaison team to facilitate the transition of adolescents and young adults: an umbrella review. Eur J Pediatr 182, 1483–1494 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-023-04835-2

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