Health care transition research group
Short description
Young people living with long-term conditions often face several important transitions during adolescence and into adult life. These may include the transition from paediatric to adult healthcare, from school to further education or employment, and from family-based support to greater personal responsibility for health and everyday life. These transitions often represent a vulnerable period during which the risk of interruptions in care, reduced support, and deteriorating health may increase. For transitions to function well, coordination is needed between healthcare, schools, and other societal actors, together with a clear focus on the young person’s own needs, resources, and involvement. The research group studies how such transitions can be made safer and more coherent for young people with long-term conditions, with the aim of strengthening health, independence, and quality of life over time.
Shortcomings in healthcare during transfers have been expressed both by patients and their relatives and it is an issue that is also being pursued by various patient organisations. In addition, healthcare professionals are calling for improved practices to promote the well-being and medical outcomes of people with long-term conditions during vulnerable periods of life.
Purpose
The goal is to generate new knowledge about aspects of care during transitions within health care. This is carried out by studying, developing and evaluating the effects of both new and existing care models in order to be able to improve care during transitions between different care providers.
Furthermore, the aim is to map out the consequences for the patients in terms of e.g. medical outcomes and psychosocial aspects of deficiencies in the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare. Initially, the research group's starting point is the target group of young people with long-term conditions.
Themes
The research is conducted within the following themes:
- Care for various changes in life phases, health conditions or social roles
- Care during transfer between different care providers
- The impact of healthcare models on transitions in care
- Consequences and reasons for interruptions in the follow-up
The research team's expertise
- qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
- randomized controlled trials
- development and evaluation of complex interventions
- cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies
- process evaluation
- health economic studies
- implementation research
- epidemiological registry studies
The group collaborates with several research groups and hospitals in Sweden, Belgium and South Africa within the framework of the ongoing research projects.
The research group is affiliated with the Centre for Person-centred Care, GPCC
