Over 300,000 children in the United States have been diagnosed with some form of juvenile arthritis. However, there are fewer than 350 board-certified practicing pediatric rheumatologists in the United States, with only 25 percent of children living with juvenile arthritis seeing a pediatric rheumatologist to manage their treatment. The purpose of this project was to develop transition program recommendations for teens with juvenile arthritis transitioning to adult care in the United States. The main models used in this project were the Precaution Adoption Process Model and the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance Model. An outcome tool was developed to gather information on several topics important to the transition process such as disease management self-efficacy, health distress, current behaviors when visiting a doctor, and depression. There were a total of 4 respondents to the survey with an average Function score of 54 and an average Dysfunction Score of 35.5. Through a literature review, it was determined that it is important to acknowledge that the teens with arthritis have autonomy in the decision-making process when it comes to their health care. Therapists need to allow the client to decide when it is time to progress through each stage in the transition process, as well as provide the tools necessary to become independent with their new role, including providing the opportunity for trial and error, exploring various coping strategies, instilling the skills of time and medication management, and teaching them how to seek out reliable resources as they continue throughout their life span with their chronic condition.

Creator

• Meert, Nicole M.

Contributors

• Barton, Rebecca A.

Publisher

• University of Indianapolis

Language

• en

Identifier

• Meert, N OTD 2018.pdf

Keyword

• Health Sciences

• Occupational Therapy

Date created

• 2018-05

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/