This project aimed to gain insight into the generic and disease-specific outcomes of transition clinics at the level of the patient, healthcare provider and organisation, and to compare these to outcomes of standard transitional care. We explored the structure and approaches of transition clinics and standard care, clinical results and self-management outcomes in young adulthood, experiences of young people and healthcare providers, and facilitators and barriers for the provision of transitional care.
The project consisted of a retrospective mixed-method study with a comparative multiple-case design. Young people who transferred two to four years prior to the start of the study were included in the study sample. The Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Endocrinology departments of the Erasmus University Medical Centre participated. Control teams for CF and IBD have been set up at the Amsterdam and Utrecht University Medical Centres, respectively. No control team could be found for Endocrinology. The study protocol will be used for a new evaluation project in diabetes care.