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Kick-off meeting: help shape a European working group on transition to adult palliative care

How can paediatric and adult palliative care services work together to better meet young people’s needs? The EAPC Children and Young Persons Reference Group invites professionals from both fields to a kick-off webinar focused on young people aged 15–25 with palliative care needs.


This meeting follows the transition-focused webinar on Hats On for CPC Day on October 16th. It aims to take a first step towards a European working group, bringing together professionals from paediatric and adult services to improve support during transition to adult care and in the initial period afterwards.  

Why this meeting?  

Advances in treatment and medical technology mean that more children with life-shortening conditions are reaching adulthood. Many have complex care needs, depend on medical technology and live with significant health-related vulnerability.  

These young people and their families have often lived with their conditions for many years. Parents have developed extensive knowledge of the condition and day-to-day care. Many of these conditions are non-oncological. Some are rare and involve complex symptoms that may be less familiar to professionals in adult services.  

The transition between services does not always work smoothly. In some settings, community care ends at age 16, while equivalent adult care is not available until age 18. Young people can therefore fall through gaps in support.  

There are also good examples of paediatric and adult services working together, including joint consultations and coordinated care pathways. These experiences offer opportunities to learn from one another and improve continuity of care.  

What can you expect?  

The webinar will include presentations from experts in different countries, followed by opportunities for questions, comments and sharing experiences. Examples from practice will illustrate how paediatric and adult teams collaborate. Participants will also be invited to contribute their own experiences and challenges.  

Topics will include:  

  • Supporting an appropriate transition to adult care, wherever a young person lives.  
  • Developing collaboration and care pathways that respond to each young person’s needs.  
  • Adapting communication and inpatient care for young adults with neurological impairments.  
  • Understanding differences in symptoms and symptom management between young adults with neurological disabilities and older adults.  
  • Recognising the continuing role of families while supporting young adults with decision-making capacity to make their own choices.  

What is this the start of?  

The meeting is intended as a first step towards a working group of paediatric and adult palliative care professionals. The next steps are still to be defined and will depend on colleagues’ interests, expertise and available time.  

Possible activities include developing shared principles, guidelines or quality standards for transition. The group could also help increase understanding of these young adults’ needs within the wider palliative care community. The ambition is for EAPC to actively support collaboration between both fields.  

During this first webinar, you can listen, ask questions and share experiences. The nature of any future involvement in the working group remains to be discussed.  

Interested? 

Register here and join the conversation.

Who is it for?  

The webinar is open to interested professionals from paediatric and adult palliative care, particularly those supporting young people with complex, life-shortening conditions.  
Participation from adult care professionals is especially important. If you work in paediatric care, please invite a colleague from adult services. This can help build connections between the teams supporting young people before and after transition.  


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