Multidisciplinary care considerations for gender nonconforming adolescents with eating disorders: A case series.

Gender nonconforming youth are at risk for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Currently, only a small body of literature addresses this high-risk group. The five cases in this series highlight important themes for this patient population from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Transitions to Adult Care for Rhode Island Youth with Special Healthcare Needs.

The transitioning of youth from pediatric to adult care systems is often fraught with discontinuity, miscommunication and gaps in care. This is most significant for youth with special health care needs. A panel discussion on transitioning youth to adult care systems that was part of a learning collaborative held by The RI Care Transformation Collaborative (CTC) is presented here, illustrated by a pertinent case of a youth with type 1 diabetes.

Patient Engagement for Youth in Multiple Facets of Healthcare in Rhode Island.

Health reform strives to be patient-centered but often emphasizes institutional and financial well-being at the expense of patient responsiveness. Rhode Island is a pioneer, with innovative youth engagement programs in health care. The Youth Advisory Board of the Adolescent Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Initiative at Brown Family Medicine has brought together adolescents to gather feedback about participants' preferences for their health care and bring that feedback to health care providers.

Health care transition for adolescents with special health care needs: a report on the development and use of a clinical transition service.

Background: A growing population of adolescents with special healthcare needs is aging into adulthood. These emerging adults face the transition challenges of their healthy peers but also potentially heightened risks and challenges related to their conditions. We describe the process of developing a pilot program to support healthcare services for emerging adults with chronic conditions and present preliminary data on utilization.

An evaluation of a positive youth development program for adolescents with chronic illness.

Purpose: Youth with chronic illness often struggle transitioning to adulthood and adult medical care. This article examines the outcomes of a group mentoring program called The Adolescent Leadership Council (TALC) that brings together high school participants and college mentors, all with chronic illness. TALC uses a positive youth development (PYD) approach, emphasizing strong relationships between youth and adults in an environment where youth can learn important life skills and take a leadership role.