What is Transition?

Transition is a purposeful planned process for young people with chronic conditions to move from child centered to adult orientated health care.

Part of growing up with cystic fibrosis is transition from Paediatric to Adult care. In becoming more responsible for your own care and treatments, you will learn the skills you need to manage adult life and get the most from activities such as employment, going away to college, or living with a partner.

How do we prepare for Transition?

We aim to prepare for transition gradually from around the age of 14yrs, by working to increase your knowledge and understanding of your CF care and by encouraging you to become increasingly involved in decisions about management. We will aim to meet with you specifically to address any queries or concerns you or your family have about transition, as we acknowledge this can be a worrying time for families. We will ensure that you are able to attend adolescent clinics to become familiar with the adult clinic environment and that you have met the adult team before transfer of of care –your final appointment will be a joint appointment with both teams present to ensure your needs are met

At the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital we are fortunate to provide both Paediatric and Adult services on the same site, with both teams working closely together to ease this transition. Some members of your team will therefore stay with you into adult services and our transition clinics allow you to gradually meet members of the adult team before formal transfer of care.

Any queries about the transition process for you or your child then please discuss this with us further.

What can you do?

• Be proactive with regards to your condition and take responsibility for it
• Know your medications well
• Talk to your CF consultant about what CF means to you
• Think about what you would like the adult team to know about you as you transition