Health Care Transition: The Struggle to Define Itself

Health care transition is an expanding field of health care practice and research focused on facilitating adolescents and emerging adults with long-term conditions to transfer uninterruptedly from pediatric to adult health care services and to transition successfully into adulthood and beyond. There is a widespread need to develop and implement service models as approximately one million adolescents and emerging adults with long-term conditions transfer their care into the adult system and enter adulthood. The purpose of this article is to explore major issues associated with the current state of health care transition practice, research and ultimately policymaking and systems change. The prominent issues addressed in this article include the following. Defining clearly what constitutes models of health care transition practice as ambiguity exists with terminology used with concepts integral to health care transition. The indistinct meanings of health care transition terminology commonly used, such as transition, transfer, readiness, and preparation, need to be operationalized for widespread application. Furthermore, questions remain as to what goal-directed outcomes are expected within this field of practice and science.