• Education and Training
• Housing
• Transportation
• Finances and Money Management
• Legal and Advocacy
• Assistive Technology
• Recreation and Leisure
• Healthy Living

Transition to Adult Health Care

One aspect of becoming an adult is taking charge of your health care needs. It's everything from understanding over-the-counter medication to complicated medical procedures. You can't just say "take the pink pill"; you need to know what the name of the pill is, when to take it and what it treats. You need to gain an understanding of your health care needs, disability and how your health care may affect your future decisions. Healthy living may include changes in your lifestyle.

As you transition from high school to the adult world, your health care also transitions. You change from a pediatrician to a general practitioner or specialist. Another issue to look into is health insurance. Will your parents' health insurance continue to cover you once you have graduated high school? Will you need your own coverage? Coverage may be available through school, work or state programs like Medicaid.

Health Care in the Transition IEP

It is not common practice to identify health related needs and goals when developing a statement of transition services within a student's IEP. However, lack of attention to health needs and health management can impact goals for learning, working, and living safely in the community. It is important that students with health care needs learn to manage their own health care and work with appropriate professionals as partners in their care.

Your current health is part of transition planning and may include assessing your needs in several areas. For example, how your health might affect employment choices, post-secondary education, and independent living. You will need to learn strategies to effectively manage your health care. The IEP team may develop health maintenance plans, and examine transition choices that are consistent with your health needs.

When planning for your future goals, consider your current health care and how it will change as you age. Be prepared to transition from a pediatrician, a doctor for children, to a doctor who treats adults. Learn the resources to help you manage your own healthcare. Investigate available health care and insurance options that best meet your needs.

Complete Changing Role for Families (doc) (PDF) and Changing Role for Youth (doc) (PDF) to help you understand where you are now and where you want to go with your health care needs.

Additional resources can be found at:

• American Academy of Pediatrics: A list of downloadable forms with which you can build your own Care Notebook.
• Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University: Provides information for health care services that are family-centered, community-based, comprehensive, coordinated and culturally competent for all children and youth with special health care needs.
• Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University: Helps children with disabilities find healthcare services.
• Family Voices: Family Voices, a national grassroots network of families and friends, advocates for health care services that are family-centered, community-based, comprehensive, coordinated and culturally competent for all children and youth with special health care needs; promotes the inclusion of all families as decision makers at all levels of health care; and supports essential partnerships between families and professionals.
• Family Voices of Utah: If you live in Utah, and you have a child or a family member with a physical, mental, or developmental disability, then the Utah Family Voices website welcomes you. Utah Family Voices is all about supporting families of the people with disabilities, and is run by parents of special needs children.
• Healthy and Ready to Work: Focuses on understanding systems, access to quality health care, and increasing the involvement of youth. It also includes provider preparation plus tools and resources needed to make more informed choices!
• Healthy and Ready to Work: Young people with special health care needs must optimize their health potential. This requires an understanding of their health needs and involvement in their health care decision making. Access to quality care as youth become adults will require transition from child centered to adult oriented systems of care.
• National Center for Medical Home Implementation: This resource is for health professionals, families, and anyone interested in creating a medical home for all children and youth.
• Parent Brief: What does Health Have to Do with Transition? Everything! Read about including health goals in the transitional IEP.
• The Center for Children with Special Needs: The Care Notebook is a tool you can use to organize information about your child's chronic health condition. It has many pages that can be filled out to be used as a reference about your child's health and treatments.
• Tools & Solutions: Materials, Policy Briefs & Tools developed by the HRSA/MCHB funded Healthy & Ready to Work Projects.
• Transition Tips for Young Adults: This pamphlet developed by Shriners Hospital for Children, also called Moving On, provides information for young adults on moving to adult health care; paying for health care; preparing for the future; getting around in the community; becoming more independent; and resources and websites.
• Utah Med Home Portal: The MedHome Portal aims to provide ready access to reliable and useful information for professionals and families to help them care and advocate for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), as partners in the Medical Home model. This site provides excellent information, for families, youth with disabilities, physicians, educators and other professionals. This website includes a special section on information for Education & Schools that was prepared in collaboration with the Utah State Office of Education and an excellent section on Transition Issues from birth to adulthood.