Background: Transition is a planned process that allows adolescents with chronic diseases acquire self-care skills to function in the adult health system. Transition is more complex than simple transfer to adult system. In Chile, pediatric health system ends at age 15 as a rule, but many adolescents with chronic illness continue to be treated in pediatric hospitals.
Objective: To describe the transition process from Hospital de Niños Dr. Roberto del Río professionals´ point of view.
Method: We carried out a descriptive study, with a self-applied survey that included questions about transition that was delivered by e-mail to physicians and nurses, whom take care of adolescents over 15 years old. A pilot survey was conducted, and it was not necessary to make changes to the questions. Participation was voluntary and confidential.
Results: 38 professionals completed the survey (34 physicians, 4 nurses; 68,4% female). Almost 90% of participants think that transition is an important issue, and 82% assessed the current transition process as regular/bad. 50% had transferred adolescents after 15 years old. Many professionals think that age is not the only factor to consider when they choose the right moment to transfer adolescents to adult system. To improve the current transition process, they suggest: to stablish better communication between pediatric and adult teams, to adapt health care to adolescents’ special needs, and to develop transition training strategies for professionals in both hospitals.
Conclusions: Current transition is perceived inadequate by pediatric professionals. In order to improve transition, professionals emphasized stablishing better communication between both systems.
Key words: transition, adolescents. |
