The transition of health care responsibility from parents to youth diagnosed with chronic illness: a developmental systems perspective

Abstract

With improved health care, increasing numbers of children and adolescents with chronic illness and disability now live into adulthood. With this change, the health care community needs to address problems related to the transition from parents caring for their young children's needs to increasing health care responsibility being required of adolescents and young adults (AYA). The current article presents a conceptualization of relevant research related to the transition of health care responsibility from parent to AYA. Using a developmental systems perspective, representative literature on adolescent and dyad-level factors related to the transition of health care responsibility is reviewed to inform clinical practice and future intervention research. To identify the health care tasks that researchers have thus far considered as most important for successful transition, we review assessment measures in this area. The varying levels of agreement on transition of health care behaviors provide an index of current thought by experts in this field. Those behaviors consistently identified as key for successful transition of responsibility from parent to adolescent are outlined to inform future research and clinical practice.