Life beyond pediatrics. Transition of chronically ill adolescents from pediatric to adult health care systems.

Transition from pediatric to adult health care is fraught with difficulties. On the one hand, the adult care system is not properly prepared to receive patients who are survivors of the so-called childhood disorders. On the other hand, patients and families have difficulty leaving the protective environment created by pediatric caregivers, who in turn may have mixed feelings about letting the patients go. Normalization of development and social adaptation for chronically ill adolescents, however, should include a change in the environment in which health care is received. This article examines some of the issues surrounding transition and transfer from pediatric to adult health care systems and propose some avenues toward implementation of such programs.