A blue and red logo for health care transitions.

Our Vision

To ensure that all adolescents or emerging adults with a chronic medical condition/disability and their families from all over the world receive health care transition and disease self-management preparation by advocating for policy that supports health care systems and providers to implement evidence-based health care transition to adult-focused practices.

Our Mission

To embed well-planned, evidence-based health care transition from pediatric to adult-focused providers as a standard component of health services directed to adolescent/emerging adults with a chronic condition or disability. Through literacy and culturally appropriate interventions, our international research collaboration will optimize disease self-management skills and patient outcomes.

A man and woman looking at a laptop.
Two women smiling for a picture in front of a window.

Our activities

  • 1 Monthly Webinars
  • 2 Semi-Annual Conferences
  • 3 Collaboration to Advance the Evidence in the Field of Healthcare Transition and Self-Management
  • 4 Peer-Reviewed Special Issues on Healthcare Transition
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Our Members and Purpose

We are an organization of volunteer adolescent/emerging adult patients with chronic conditions, parents, and health providers/researchers with the purpose of advancing an evidence-based research agenda on healthcare transition and self-management.

Our Goals

  • 1 Produce or Validate Assessment Tools That Will Allow Healthcare Transition Readiness to Be Effectively Monitored by Health Providers While at the Same Time Helping to Guide Policy.
  • 2 Develop and Evaluate Interventions Designed to Improve the Process of Health Care Transition and Disease Self-management, Ranging From Those That Target Provider Education to Those That Directly Involve the Patients and Their Families.
  • 3 Develop Practice-Based Healthcare Transition Research Networks, Optimizing Longitudinal Outcomes in Electronic Health Records.
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Our History

  • It All Started in 1981: Michael Ted Ferris, an Extraordinary Young Man and the Source of Inspiration
  • In 2006, Maria E. Diaz-gonzalez De Ferris, MD, MPH, Ph.D. [email protected] Founded the UNC TRxANSITION Program With Seed Funding From the UNC Pediatric Center for Education Research and Therapeutics (Drs. Harry Guess and Sue Tolleson-reinhart) and K.B. Reynolds Foundation
  • In 2008, Partnerships Were Formed With North Carolina Providers (Peter Sim at Victory Junction Camp, Paul Sagerman at Wake Forrest University, Geri Matsoo/Monique Bethel at the North Carolina Department of Health, and Irene)
  • 2009: Partnership With Researchers From Florida (John Reiss, David Wood, Janet Hess, and Arwa Saidi), Boston (Greg Sawicki), and Other Organizations From Around the World.
  • In 2015, the Executive Committee Was Formed, Led by Cecil Betz, With the Following Members (in Alphabetical Order): Nancy Cheak-Zamora, Lynn Davidson, Maria Diaz-Gonzalez De Ferris, Rita Nathawad, Megie Okumura, Paragh Shah, David Thomas, and Jason Woodward

Evidence-Based Healthcare Transition for Providers