What should I do to prepare?

Transition involves you taking more responsibility for your treatment options and the way your condition is managed. Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has produced some information to help guide you through preparing for transition.

The information in this log will help you see how far you have come in preparing for transition. It covers different areas of preparation such as knowing more about your condition, understanding your medication and how your condition affects your overall wellbeing. You can download and complete the checklist as you prepare. You could also print it out to take with you to any transition clinic appointments you may have.

If you find there are items in the checklist that you are marking as ‘I need to work on this’, you can ask for advice from your healthcare professional, or your parents may also have some ideas to help you.

As you have been growing up with your condition, you may have relied quite a bit on your parents or carers to help you take the right medication at the right time. While preparing for transition it is important to be begin to take more responsibility and understand better which medications you need and how often. By completing the medication log you can get a better idea of all your medications and what they do. If you have anything you take that you don’t know what it’s for, ask your health professionals to explain.

It’s a good idea to complete a healthcare record for yourself. You can print it and take it with you to appointments as you move on from GOSH, or keep it electronically to refer to when needed. This can help you to answer questions about your condition that healthcare professionals are likely to ask if they haven’t met you or treated you before.