Ryan White 2012 Grantee Meeting

One task facing providers of HIV-infected youth is to successfully transition them from pediatric or adolescent care into adult HIV care. Barriers to this transition occur at multiple steps in the process. Ideally transition involves more than a transfer of care, and includes preparation of the patient and reciprocal communication among the providers and support services. This workshop will review models of transitioning, including practices reported by different Ryan White sites. Interactive small group activities will work through case-based examples to define patient barriers and health system barriers to transitioning as well as to identify potential solutions to these barriers. The session is designed for clinicians, case managers, peer navigators and program staff who may be involved in creating or evaluating transition programs.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe steps taken in creating a smooth transition from one care provider to another. These will include tasks to be accomplished by care teams, families and adult providers. Topics such as assessing readiness and health literacy, provider communications, portable health summaries and documentation and eligibility.
• Identify 3 barriers to successful transition.
• Apply methods taught in the session to circumstances in local health care settings. How do state Medicaid programs accommodate young adults? How do providers identify adult doctors in rural settings? How are communications handled when different health care systems are involved? What special issues face perinatally-infected youth?