The oppor­tu­ni­ty

Tran­si­tion to adult­hood can be a chal­leng­ing time and for young peo­ple with com­plex health needs, there is an addi­tion­al bur­den of nav­i­gat­ing a frag­ment­ed health­care sys­tem. This project sought to iden­ti­fy the chal­lenges faced by young peo­ple and their per­ceived needs, to iden­ti­fy ele­ments that con­tribute to a suc­cess­ful tran­si­tion to adult health services. 

Our Approach

Health jour­ney map­ping and semi-struc­tured inter­views with young peo­ple and their fam­i­lies were used to gen­er­ate detailed nar­ra­tives. From the nar­ra­tives of mul­ti­ple jour­neys, key themes were iden­ti­fied about the tran­si­tion from child to adult health services. 

Part­ners

Key part­ners in this project includ­ed the Mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary Ambu­la­to­ry Con­sult­ing Ser­vice (MACS), CAL­HN, WCHN, Uni­ver­si­ty of Adelaide. 

Out­comes

The out­comes of the jour­ney map­ping and nar­ra­tives iden­ti­fied five main themes: tran­si­tion is a no man’s land; the adult health sys­tem requires more active nav­i­ga­tion; appro­pri­ate care is not rou­tine; par­ent as cham­pi­on; and health­care is a hos­tile envi­ron­ment. The project iden­ti­fied that despite exist­ing mod­els and poli­cies, the tran­si­tion of young peo­ple to adult ser­vices lacks a con­sis­tent, struc­tured approach. 

In hear­ing and under­stand­ing the voic­es and advo­ca­cy of con­sumers and reflect­ing on cur­rent prac­tice, health­care prac­ti­tion­ers can enhance future health­care rela­tion­ships with young peo­ple and build trust across the health­care system. 

Doc­u­ments and Resourses

‘No man’s land’: the jour­ney of young adults with com­plex care needs, from pae­di­atric to adult health­care — Thomas — 2025 — Inter­nal Med­i­cine Jour­nal — Wiley Online Library

Have a Question? 

Or want to learn more? Please email Jemma.​Anderson@​sa.​gov.​au or Josephine.​Thomas@​adelaide.​edu