An exploratory study of future plans and extracurricular activities of transition-age youth and young adults.

A descriptive profile of the health related concerns, school-related and extracurricular activities, employment-related activities, social relationships and future plans of 25 transition-aged youth and young adults (ages 14 to 21 years) were conducted. The findings of this exploratory study provide insight on the impact their chronic condition had upon all aspects of their lives. Sixty percent of respondents indicated they had missed school due to their condition and a third of the respondents had not completed high school. Health care professionals usually were not identified as participatory in youth transition planning. The majority of these transition-aged youth and young adults had positive feelings towards their school experience, although most of the respondents were not involved in school projects or clubs, which suggests their participation in school-related extra-curricular activities was limited. Nearly all of the respondents had some form of employment experience. Most of their work experiences were nonpaying jobs such as serving as a volunteer and participating in school-based employment training. Nearly all of the respondents expressed desires for sustainable employment and fiscal and social independence. Most of the respondents reported having social relationships with just less than half reporting seeing friends outside of school.