Improving young people’s transitions between child and adult mental health services
Submitted by Becky Appleton
This research tested a new intervention called 'managed transition' to improve the numbers of young people whose care is moved to adult mental health services after reaching the upper age limit of children's services. This intervention involved 5 main strategies:
Training for clinicians
Identification of young people who were approaching the upper age limit of their service
A questionnaire to assess transition readiness and appropriateness (completed by the young person, and their parent/carer and clinician, if available)
A clear summary of questionnaire results made available to clinicians
Clinicians discussing the transition decision with the young person and their parent/carer
The intervention was tested at 40 different children and young people's mental health services across 8 European countries. In total, 793 participants were recruited, and were randomly chosen to either receive the managed transition intervention, or their usual care.
Results showed that those who received the intervention were more likely to transition to adult services (25% vs 14% in the group who did not receive the intervention). The study also tested which group had the highest proportion of appropriate transitions - that is, transitions where a young person had a clinical need for ongoing support. We found that there was a higher proportion of appropriate transitions in the intervention group (32%) compared to those who only received usual care (16%).
I’m a young person – what does this mean for me?
If the managed transition intervention ends up being used in practice, it may mean that young people who continue to need support into adulthood are more likely to receive it.
I’m a clinician – what does this mean for me?
Clinicians and services should consider incorporating the managed transition intervention into routine clinical care.