The transfer of young patients with rheumatic disease from paediatric to adult health-care provision, usually during adolescence, can have adverse effects on disease in individuals who might already be vulnerable. Herein, the authors discuss transitional health-care procedures that support and encourage young patients to take responsibility for their own health-care requirements, which might improve patient coping and disease outcomes in the long term.
- Despina Eleftheriou
- David A. Isenberg
- Yiannis Ioannou
