Together for Short Lives is delighted to launch its newest resource, ‘A checklist to a good transition’, which aims to help seriously ill young people and their families think about the different elements of transition and feel more confident about the process.
The checklist joins our suite of resources aimed at improving the experiences of young people moving from familiar children’s services into adult services, a process known as transition. More and more seriously ill young people are living into adulthood, but transition still proves a stressful, uncoordinated experience for many.
These young people don’t have time to waste, so we want to support them to achieve the smooth transition they deserve, with properly coordinated care and a supportive team of professionals behind them.
Generously supported by the Bupa UK Foundation, ‘A checklist to a good transition’ is designed for seriously ill young people to assess how well agencies involved in their education and care are working together to enable a smooth transition. In particular, the checklist focuses on enabling young people to play an active role in planning and decision-making, whilst acknowledging the ongoing role parents and carers will likely play in their care.
The checklist itself is targeted at young people aged 14-18+ and addresses three pivotal points in transition:
- Preparing for adulthood: aimed at young people who have started talking about their plans for the future with teachers and care providers
- Preparing for moving on: aimed at young people who have a transition plan in place and are moving towards transferring to adult services
- Settling into adult services: aimed at young people who have made the transition to adult services and are continuing to receive help and information to thrive in adulthood.
While the resource is intended to be used by young people and their families, it can also be a useful tool to guide person-centred discussions between professionals, young people and their family members. Professionals may find that the questions asked in the checklist are good prompts for conversations around transition and advance care planning.
To access the checklist, which can be downloaded & completed digitally, or printed for completion, click here.
A checklist to a good transition was launched at Together for Short Lives’ transition summit on 26 March 2018. Presentations from the day can be downloaded here.