![\"Mother](\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2022\/06\/9B7A9974-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Adolescence is an exciting time in a person\u2019s life. You\u2019re growing and developing physically, emotionally, and socially. Every aspect of your life is affected. That includes your relationship with your health care.<\/p>\n
At some point, young people make the move from pediatric to adult health care providers. Unfortunately, this move can be confusing at times, particularly for people with chronic neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions.<\/p>\nWhat is health care transition<\/em>?<\/span> Health care transition is the planned movement of adolescents and young adults with chronic physical and medical conditions from a child-centered to an adult-focused health care system. Health care transition is a process, not a one-time event. The goals of this transition are to get a patient and their family ready to move from pediatric to adult care, to empower them to advocate for their health, to help them understand how to use adult-focused health services, and to ensure that the entire process of moving from one provider to another goes as smoothly as possible for everyone involved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhen should we start talking about health care transition?<\/span> By age 14, your health care providers should start talking to you about the transition to adulthood and health care transition<\/p>\n By age 18+, your health care providers should start talking about transferring care to an adult provider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the UNC Neurology Health Care Transition Clinic, we want to help our patients gain the knowledge, skills, and support that they\u2019ll need when it is time to move from a pediatric to adult neurology clinic.<\/p>\n<\/span> During each visit, we\u2019ll talk with you and your family about how:<\/p>\n We\u2019ll also talk about other things that are very important to young adults like school (college, inclusive post-high school options, and other programs,) jobs, housing, driving, reproductive health, mental health, and healthy relationships. For our patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we\u2019ll also discuss supported decision-making, guardianship, and other alternatives for support.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re visiting the clinic, you may meet with a few of our team members including our physicians, nurse practitioner, or social worker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For your clinic visit, make sure to bring your updated list of medications, allergies, and any outside medical records (including EEGs, MRIs, lab work, neuropsychological testing, IEPs, and other reports) that may be helpful. Think about what your goals are for yourself during adulthood. Do you want to go to college? What do you want to do for work? Will you need someone to help you with your day to day activities? All of this information will help us make a plan to connect you with the support that you will need to help you reach your goals.<\/p>\n Patients with Epilepsy who are interested in health transition support should ask their provider to refer them to the UNC Heath Care Transition Multidisciplinary Clinic<\/em>.<\/p>\n Providers : please specifically state the UNC Health Care Transition Clinic<\/em> in the patient referral.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n For more information on the referral process, please visit the Child Patient Referral page.<\/p>\nChild Patient Referral<\/a>\n\n\n
\nThe UNC Neurology Health Care Transition Clinic<\/h2>\n
What can I expect when I come to UNC Neurology Health Care Transition Clinic?<\/p>\n\n
\n\nTeam Members<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nReferral<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\nClinic Location<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAdditional Resources<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\nPartners<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nReferral<\/span><\/h2><\/h2>\n
\n
Team Members<\/span><\/h2><\/h2>\n
![\"Diana](\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2017\/07\/DianaCejas.jpg\")
<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n![\"Carolyn](\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2021\/08\/DSC_7973-scaled-e1628718666512-240x300.jpg\")
<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n![\"Alyssa](\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2020\/12\/AlyssaDraffinLCSW-256x300.png\")
<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2022\/06\/Diaz-240x300.jpg\")
<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n