Medical Student Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Background: This newly developed web-based curriculum aims to teach medical professionals and trainees to better facilitate pediatric to adult care transition for youth with special healthcare needs (YSHCN). Nearly 1 in 5 children in the United States have chronic conditions of childhood origin and of this population, about 1.2 million turn 18 each year – a statistic that continues to rise as YSCHN live longer. Undergoing smooth care transitions facilitates continuity of care, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. Barriers to effective transitions include lack of clinical transition programs and difficulty finding adult providers comfortable with YSCHN. Numerous surveys indicate this discomfort stems from insufficient education about childhood-onset diseases and principles of transition care. Currently, there exists no online training for medical professionals about transition care guided by patient perspectives. Objective: To address the educational gap on transition care by developing a self-guided online training for pediatric and adult providers serving YSCHN. Design/Methods: This training broadly covers tenets of YSCHN care through six interactive, online modules: Introduction to Transition, Adherence, Decision-Making, Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, and Solutions. Each takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Conditions including intellectual/developmental disability, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia are longitudinally integrated to illustrate key principles. For example, the concept of shared decision-making is introduced through intellectually disabled young adults with healthcare proxies or legal guardians. Each section leverages patient and caregiver interview clips to teach via first-hand experiences. These modules are developed on the Articulate 360 platform, and utilizes interactive graphics and self-check quizzes. Results: This training is in progress in collaboration with Open Pediatrics, with anticipated completion in 2026. Future work will (1) pilot this training with pediatric, medicine-pediatrics, internal medicine, and family medicine residents, (2) collect qualitative feedback through interviews and questionnaires, (3) evaluate knowledge acquisition and retention, change in clinical behavior, and satisfaction, (4) seek patient and caregiver input on quality of training content.
Conclusion(s): This novel online curriculum utilizes patient-centered teaching to equip providers with essential knowledge on YSCHN transition care.
