Background: The process of transitioning from pediatric to adult healthcare is a pivotal juncture in the overall life course of young adults (YAs) with complex care needs (CCN) and their families. As service demands increase for this population, healthcare providers must determine the best ways to meet their needs. Following the transition to adult healthcare, YAs are vulnerable to poor outcomes, such as increased stress and repeated ER visits. Studies that explore how to address their needs often do not reflect the perspectives of YAs. As such, seeking their input about health services is a crucial step towards improving service delivery. Objective: This study aimed to explore the experiences and recommendations of YAs with CCN to improve the transition process from pediatric to adult healthcare across settings and sectors. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 young adults aged 19–29 with CCN from a small Canadian province. Maximum variation sampling was used to capture diverse perspectives from individuals with an array of CCN. Data was managed using NVivo software and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: The following themes were identified in the data, highlighting the importance of: 1) continuity of care, 2) improved access to care and supports, 3) transition readiness, and 4) a patient-centred care team. Conclusion: Results from this study can inform practice, policy, and research by guiding the development of service delivery improvement strategies for YAs and their families involved in the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare.
This research study used semi-structured qualitative interviews to examine the concept of parental neglect within British Columbia’s Ministry of Child and Family Development (MCFD). Using the lived experiences of 7 parents who have had encounters with MCFD as well as 4 Service Workers who have worked for, or alongside, MCFD in the last 15 years this study identified risk factors that can lead to neglect categorized as parents unable or unwilling to provide care. The findings show a reluctance to support chronic issues parents face that inflame risk factors and stress leading to inadequate coping skills needed for parenting abilities. Through a neoliberalism and gender discrimination lens this study was able to identify barriers to efficacy within the MCFD process, such as a lack of funding for mental health services leading to long waitlist, stigma surrounding substance use and biases from servicer workers around expectations for how a parent should behave in a highly stressful situation like child apprehension. This study found that there were relationships between with mental health issues, poverty, a lack of parental advocacy and negative experiences with MCFD. Parental advocacy, a restructuring of funding to allow for more individualized care helping to address the issues of waitlists, reducing substance abuse stigma by viewing it through a mental health lens, and supporting Service Workers mental health while also increasing Service Worker training are small steps that can be taken to mitigate the added traumas resulting from encounters with B.C.’s child welfare system.
In our modern society, technology has become a large part of how we learn, work, and communicate with each other. Most adults and university students are aware of how this increased use of technology influences us on a daily basis, but what is less clear is how this use of technology and online activity on social media websites impacts the lives of children and young adolescents. This paper will examine researchers' specific focus on children and young adolescents and how social media has influenced their well-being. The role social media plays in the everyday lives of children is significant as it negatively impacts their mental health by creating unhealthy levels of addiction, causing a disconnect from social relationships and reality, and increasing levels of social comparison.
Adolescents spend increasing amounts of time alone in their bedrooms, a shift which likely intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Past research has pointed to potential developmental reasons, benefits (e.g., increasing autonomy), and risks (e.g., social isolation, greater screen time) of high amounts of time alone. We explored adolescents’ experiences of their bedrooms during pandemic restrictions, as a potentially unique developmental context. We conducted 10 focus groups and 23 interviews with 74 young people, ages 10 to 19 (46% girls/women; 49% boys/men; 6% gender neutral/gender fluid/agender; 16% LGBTQ+; 5% Indigenous; 35% persons of colour; 7% persons with a disability). Middle to late adolescents, in particular, described their bedrooms as relevant to their developmental needs for autonomy and independence. Further, they underlined the emotional complexity surrounding bedrooms, such as feeling both trapped and seeking comfort and relaxation. Findings suggest the importance of time alone, and also strategies and discussion points for youth and parents.
