Exploring the experiences of transitional care from child and adolescent mental health services to adult mental health services: the perspectives of professionals, parents and young people

Abstract

Transitional care is an important process for professionals to consider, particularly as recent studies have shown how a mental health difficulty in adolescence will persist into adulthood. This indicates that a number of those seen in Child and Adolescent mental health services are likely to make the transition into Adult services. For professionals from both services, barriers can arise when supporting young people across service boundaries and recent studies have stated that the current practice of transitional care in mental health is deemed to be problematic. However at the time of conducting this study, there was a paucity of literature, therefore the aim of the study was to add to the existing knowledge. The study followed a Social Constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) approach to explore the experience of stakeholders of the transition process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals, young people and parents. There were a total of eight interviews which were transcribed and analysed. The findings present the core category as Facing the transition, with three sub- categories: Changing status, Manoeuvring the boundaries and Reflections on the process. The tentative theory explains how facing the transition involves stakeholders adjusting to the changing status of the service user. This category triggers the service transition but also describes how societal perceptions about adulthood influence the expectations placed on young people. Manoeuvring the boundaries describes and explains service transition, identifying a range of barriers and strategies to overcome these. One of the most significant barriers was identified as cultural differences between the two services. The third category describes how stakeholders make sense of their experiences, and how these are managed within the therapeutic relationship.