Transitional Care Program

The pediatric Pulmonary, Allergy and Cystic Fibrosis Center offers a very fluid transitional care program at Miller Children’s Hospital. Children are not small adults, so as children are living longer with their pediatric diseases, such as Cystic Fibrosis, there is a need to be able to transition adolescents and young adults into the “adult” health care setting. A successful transition process provides health care that is uninterrupted, coordinated, developmentally appropriate, and psychologically sound, both before and throughout the transfer into the adult system.

However, many pulmonologists who care for adults, have not been exposed to these pediatric illnesses or know how to treat them. Miller Children’s Hospital is unique, because it shares a medical campus with Long Beach Memorial. The pulmonology teams from Miller Children’s and Long Beach Memorial joined to create an effective transitional care program. For the last 10 years, Long Beach Memorial has had an Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program. Jeffrey Riker, MD is the physician lead for the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program.

The purpose of the Transitional Care Program for adolescents and young adults with Cystic Fibrosis is to prepare teens, young adults and their parents to move from pediatric to adult-based health care. The program provides comprehensive treatment of adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis, from ages 15 to 20. To assist adolescents in a successful transition, preparation begins early and includes clinical assessment of the adolescent’s self-management skills, the development of an individualized transitional plan of care and patient and parent education sessions and counseling.