Subject(s)
Comprehensive Health Care/methods , Health Services Needs and Demand , Leukodystrophy, Metachromatic/therapy , Patient Transfer/methods , Physician's Role , Transition to Adult Care , Adolescent , Comprehensive Health Care/trends , Female , Health Services Needs and Demand/trends , Humans , Leukodystrophy, Metachromatic/diagnosis , Patient Transfer/trends , Transition to Adult Care/trends , Young AdultABSTRACT
Because many children with complex health conditions now live well into adulthood, they will reach an age when they can no longer be cared for in a pediatric practice. In order to help patients, families, and physicians prepare for and make the transition from pediatric to adult care, a group of concerned providers and family members met at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota to discuss the issues involved. They developed a document, the "Roadmap for Transitioning Adolescents from a Pediatric to an Adult Practice," to help with the process and also identified barriers to accomplishing a smooth transition. This article describes the issues addressed by the group, how the Roadmap can be applied to children with various health needs, and what still needs to be done to help the process go more smoothly for patients and physicians.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Health Services/trends , Chronic Disease/rehabilitation , Continuity of Patient Care/trends , Family Practice/trends , Needs Assessment/trends , Pediatrics/trends , Referral and Consultation/trends , Adolescent , Adult , Forecasting , Humans , MinnesotaABSTRACT
A 4-year-old black boy was admitted to the hospital with vomiting, low-grade fever, and dehydration that were thought to be caused by viral gastroenteritis. He proceeded over the next 12 hours to rapidly deteriorate with brain herniation leading to brain death. The ultimate cause of death was found to be acute lead intoxication from a swallowed foreign body.
