NDSS Youth Transition Project

What is the NDSS Youth Transition Project?

The project is looking at ways to increase the number of young people with diabetes who stay connected with adult diabetes health care when they transfer from paediatric (child) to adult diabetes services.

The project is funded by the Department of Health and Ageing through a NDSS Strategic Development Grant and delivered through state and territory NDSS Agents.

What is Transition?

Transition is a patient’s transfer from paediatric (child) health care to adult health care. It can start anywhere between the ages of 12-20 and in some cases, occurs as late as in your 20s. It all depends on individual circumstances and who the health care providers are.

What is the project doing?

In this first stage of the project:

A birthday card will be sent to every NDSS Registrant aged 12 to 20 each year on their birthday, from age 12 to 20.
A series of letters will be sent to parents/carers of all NDSS Registrants at the time of the NDSS Registrant’s birthday, every year from age 12 to 18.

Click below for examples of the Parents/Carers letters.

Why are we sending this information?

To remind young people and their parents to continue to think about diabetes care as the young person matures through adolescence.
To help maintain the teenager’s and parents’ connection with a diabetes health team as the teenager leaves paediatric services and moves into adult services.
To nurture the development of greater independence in managing diabetes health care needs by teenagers.
To provide parents with information about how to encourage independence in their teenager and how to support their teenager’s engagement with their diabetes health team as they move into adult health care.

When does Transfer occur?

Different approaches are used by paediatric and adult diabetes health care providers across Australia.
There is no set age or system to transfer young people to adult services; each state and diabetes service does things slightly differently.
Each clinic and doctor will transition a young person based on the young person’s own needs and the resources available within their local paediatric and adult health care services.

What’s next?

Further resources and information on transition are being developed and will be made available in the coming months.

Youth Tranistion Project