Transition is defined as the process of transferring care from a pediatric to an adult health-care practice or reorienting within a family medicine or internal medicine pediatrics practice, so that an adolescent assumes responsibility and management for his or her own health decisions. Transition is based on the teen’s needs, taking into account individual strengths and interests as well as developmental status and age. Health-care providers are of unique importance in this process because of their contact with teen patients and the close relationships that often develop. A well-timed transition from child-oriented to adult-oriented health care, overseen by the provider, allows young people to optimize their ability to assume adult roles and functioning.
In the last several decades, survival rates associated with chronic illnesses have improved dramatically, so that a high number of children with chronic illnesses and/or disability now survive to adulthood. In the United States, for...
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Abraham, A., Hawkins, K. (2012). Special Adolescent Concerns: Transition to Adult Care. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_403
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