Transitioning Young Patients' Health Care Trajectories

Transitioning Young Patients' Health Care Trajectories (TpT) Bridging the Gap Between Mental and Somatic Health Services "Tjenester på Tvers"

The project aims to transition the approach used to care for children with complex conditions and care pathways into a more holistic and coordinated model. The traditional model where specialists independently treat single diseases, makes joint and coordinated decisions about patients with multiple and unclear conditions difficult. In particular there is a gap between mental and somatic services.

In preparation for re-designing the care model, several pre-studies are conducted, both a register study and a collection of user reported experiences. Built on the results, we have invented multi-disciplinary teams of complementary competences including paediatricians, psychologists, and physiotherapists to meet the patient and family. The study includes:

• To implement the new team intervention in a clinical case-control study
• To scientifically evaluate the intervention
• To systematise lessons learned in regard to potential spread across systems and patient groups Children 6-16 years together with family and professionals will constitute the team. The assessment aims to clarify the patient's condition through shared decision making and to develop a treatment plan for the child. It is a clinical randomised controlled trial where TpT children will be compared to children following treatment as usual. It includes a one year follow-up regarding a set of evaluation domains: provider perspectives, user-centred experiences and outcomes, as well as health care outcomes.

200 children with multi-referrals will be invited to either intervention or treatment as usual at their third or more referral to Haukeland university hospital.

In the intervention group the child and family will meet a complementary team of professionals for more than two hours aimimg to get a clarification of the patient's condition and giving coping strategies for their condition. Outcome defined as better mental health and quality of life as well as increased school attendence are some of the measures being collected. These outcomes will be compared to the control group after 12 mth.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 6-16 years,
• Previous referred to specialist health care service for 3 or more times, including mental health service as well paediatric service.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not within age range
• Less than 3 referrals