By: Sarah Holman, knowledge broker, evidence to care, and Ashleigh Townley, knowledge translation specialist, evidence to care at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto launched a transformative transitions guide to empower service providers, organizations, and system leaders, in creating seamless transitions for youth with disabilities and medical complexities as they navigate the challenging journey from childhood to adult life.
The transitions guide is the result of a partnership between Evidence to Care (EtC) – the knowledge mobilization hub, and the transitions strategy team at Holland Bloorview. Born out of a five-year strategy that was launched in 2017 and informed by the lived experiences of youth with disabilities and their families, the guide is a culmination of comprehensive research and expert insights. It aims to enhance existing transition practices by providing service providers, organizations, and system leaders across health care, community, education, and social contexts, with a comprehensive resource that empowers them to create evidence-informed, needs-based solutions.
“The transitions guide provides services providers and management with approaches to conceptualizing how they will leverage their strengths; include community, policy, and lived experience needs; and create sustainable and agile solutions for current health care needs," said Laura Bowman, project manager, research and evaluation, employment pathways, Holland Bloorview. “We have also given examples of how we used our approaches and tenets in our work, as well as resources and information to guide their work."
Among its key objectives, the transitions guide:
- Identifies best practices and impactful frameworks to guide transition practice;
- Discusses the role of a solution-focused approach to generating practical solutions to real-world barriers;
- Describes the critical role that human-centred design can play as an approach to boldly reimagine transitions;
- Highlights the necessity of collaborating with children, youth, families, community agencies, organizations, and system partners;
- Provides tools and resources to support using the approaches outlined.
At the core of the transitions guide are four essential tenets that guide the creation of transition solutions: frameworks, a solution-focused approach, human-centered design, and collaboration.
The transition from childhood to adult life is rife with uncertainties and challenges. Together with their caregivers, youth with disabilities must navigate many new systems and leave behind health care providers who are very familiar with their medical history and have understood and supported their evolving health care needs through the years.
“As the parent of a typically-developing 21-year-old and an 18-year-old with a disability, I can attest that becoming an adult is a challenging time for all youth, but the complexities of transitioning to adult life for youth with disabilities and their families are truly next level," said Jean Hammond, family partnerships specialist, client and family integrated care, Holland Bloorview. “They must start to lay the foundations of their life as adults, thinking about things like post-secondary education and training, employment and volunteer opportunities, housing options, and seeking the support they will need to participate in their community as adults."
Through the comprehensive approach to designing solutions outlined in the transitions guide, Holland Bloorview aims to address the multi-faceted challenges and opportunities that arise during the transition phase, and counter the long-standing notion of this being an unsolvable, system-wide problem. As service providers, organizations and system leaders engage with this guide, they are encouraged to embrace new ideas, start conversations, and consider the transformative potential of the strategies outlined within this resource.
“My hope is that the guide will inspire organizations and health care providers to examine the current state of the transitions supports their offer, and the gaps in service their clients and families are experiencing," said Hammond. “And then work with them to collaborate in the improvement and development of new supports which will help ease the burdens and challenges youth with disabilities and their families face going forward."