CADDRA has developed a new from to support the transfer of patients to new healthcare professionals, including pediatric patients to adult services. The CADDRA ADHD Transition Form can be downloaded here.
There is currently no standardized discharge of a patient from the care of a pediatric specialist once the patient becomes an adult. This is a time of great change for young adults and often coincides with them moving out of the family home and moving cities and/or provinces for work or further education. In many cases, these young adults then have to rely on walk-in clinics with no set continuity of care. A standardized document outlining previous care under a pediatric specialist will mitigate the risk of these patients been seen and labelled as a drug-seeker if no evidence of prior diagnosis and treatment can be provided.
This new concise and user-friendly document was developed with the assistance of a multi-disciplinary CADDRA committee (Dr. Karen Bamber, pediatrician, Langley, BC; Dr. Don Duncan, child and adolescent psychiatrist, Kelowna, BC; Dr. Matt Blackwood, family physician, Mission, BC and Dr. Lauri Alto, pediatrician, Winnipeg, MB). The form will support the continuity of care of young adults by providing a document that can be forwarded by the pediatric specialist to a physician (e.g. if the patient is transferred back to a family doctor) or be brought by the patient when registering in a new practice or attending a walk-in or university/college health clinic.