An Online-Based Transition Care Program for Adolescents with Spina Bifida Using Intervention Mapping: A Protocol for Program Development.

Adolescents with spina bifida (SB) face challenges in their transition to adulthood due to intensive medical regimens and delayed development of independence. Despite an increasing interest in the transition of adolescents with SB to adulthood, the clinical evidence of transition care remains limited, and existing studies have focused on the effects of intervention programs. This study aims to describe the process of systematically developing an online-based transition care program for adolescents with SB using the intervention mapping (IM) protocol. IM consists of six steps: (1) logic model of the problem; (2) program objectives; (3) program design; (4) program production; (5) plan to implement the program; (6) plan for evaluation. At first, five problems faced during the transition were identified, based on which four program objectives and six program strategies were established. The online transition care program for adolescents with SB was developed as a six-week program. The main strength of this program is that it reflects the diverse perspectives of adults with SB and health care professionals and is easy to apply because it is online. We aim to further validate the feasibility of this transitional care program to evaluate its effect based on our evaluation plan.

Guidelines and scientifically-based spina bifida care: Guidance across the lifespan in a global health context.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that, if of nothing else, we live in a globalized community. Enthusiasm for evidenced-based medical knowledge is also contagious. Just as the incidence of SARS-CoV-2, the associated coronavirus, has had a borderless impact on global public health, so too neural tube defects have widespread significance. Previously, the concept of "blue marble health" was introduced as a policy framework to illustrate trends in the geographic distribution of health disparities affecting at-risk populations that live, not only in low-income countries, but also in pockets of the populace in wealthier nations. Subsequently, the Spina Bifida Association's Collaborative Care Network, through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently produced the "Guidelines for the Care of People with Spina Bifida." While language differences, immigration, cultural beliefs, acculturation, local resources and social determinants of health, must be taken into account when these guidelines are implemented across the globe, they could not come at a more suitable time. The current digital age, as well as open access to this special issue, will ensure their ongoing wide distribution.