Evaluation of a pilot service to help young people with life-limiting conditions transition from children's palliative care services.

BACKGROUND: When young people with life-limiting diagnoses become too old for children's hospice services, they often experience challenges transitioning into adult services. A two-year pilot project was developed to try to aid transitioning, which involved a day service with occasional overnight trips.

AIM: To evaluate the pilot project.

METHOD: Three focus groups made up of key stakeholders (young people, their parents and staff) were set up and analysed using an adopted thematic analysis framework.

RESULTS: The participants consisted of three young people, seven parents and six staff members. Participants described the transition period as a difficult time for both young people and their families, with a perceived lack of adult services available. All groups agreed that the pilot had a positive impact on young people and their families and all were keen for the project to continue.

CONCLUSION: This pilot models a service that could be adopted by other organisations in order to aid the transition between child and adult hospice services, with further potential for application in mental health and special needs services.