1.4 Ensure that all staff have the knowledge, skills and training to effectively support the agency/services approach to transitions.
1.4 Ensure that all staff have the knowledge, skills and training to effectively support the agency/services approach to transitions.
Whole-team approaches are more successful in ensuring ongoing adaptation and support for new policies in health care. Providing proactive, accessible, and integrated education about youth mental health care transitions can create important opportunities for professional and organizational development (Nilsen et al., 2020). Creating a plan to support staff learning and engagement with transition resources ensures a shared understanding of the organization's approach to care transitions and each staff member's role in the process (Nilsen et al., 2020). A lack of training and education for care providers has been identified as a major barrier to successful youth-to-adult care transitions (McDonagh, 2006).
Skills development and training opportunities for youth mental health transitions should be tailored to the specific needs of your organization and staff. In organizations where staff play an active role in the identifying and referring transitional aged youth, training on assessment of transition needs and understanding organizational transition pathways may be required. When staff are less involved in the transition process, a regularly updated and centrally available list of transition resources may be beneficial. Regardless of the specific learning approach, all staff should regularly review the relevant organizational policies.
Resources
Evidence based guidelines for interprofessional teams for effective transitions
Educational tools to foster skills for effective transitions
Resources to support professionals with preparing youth to complete an effective transition
