Health care transition (HCT) from pediatric to adult-focused services is a longitudinal process driven by the collaboration and interactions of adolescent/young adult patients, their families, providers, health care agencies, and environment. Health care providers in both pediatric and adult-focused settings must collaborate, as patients' health self-management skills are acquired in the mid-20s, after they have transferred to adult-focused care. Our manuscript discusses the individual and family support systems as they relate to adolescents and young adults with chronic or end-stage kidney disease. In the individual domain, we discuss demographic/socioeconomic characteristics, disease complexity/course, cognitive capabilities, and self-management/self-advocacy. In the family domain, we discuss family composition/culture factors, family function, parenting style, and family unit factors. We provide a section dedicated to patients with cognitive and developmental disability. Furthermore, we discuss barriers for HCT preparation and offer solutions as well as activities for HCT preparation.
Keywords: Adolescent; Chronic kidney disease; Cognitive or developmental disability; Health care transition; Self-management.
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