Transitioning care of the pediatric recipient to adult caregivers

The key elements of transition for pediatric recipients are discussed, and the importance of a coordinated, structured, multidisciplinary approach involving the adolescents themselves is highlighted.

Abstract

The development of transitional care is one of the major challenges for the twenty-first century as the survival rates and medical outcomes for child and adolescent recipients of solid organ transplants continue to improve. Such developments must include pediatric and adult care providers and require training of professionals in both arenas. Transition is a process in which the transfer to adult care is only one event within that process. The key elements of transition for pediatric recipients are discussed, and the importance of a coordinated, structured, multidisciplinary approach involving the adolescents themselves is highlighted.