{
  "abstract": "Background As increasing numbers of young people with complex and life-limiting conditions reach adulthood, adult hospice teams must be equipped to meet their unique needs (Brown, McCusker. Arch Dis Childhood. 2024;109:A31; Finlinson, Spathis. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022;12:A2-A3). Research shows that adult care staff feel ‘ill equipped’, ‘out of their depth’ and ‘lack competence and confidence’ (Brown, McCusker. Arch Dis Childhood. 2024;109:A31; Finlinson, Spathis. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022;12:A2-A3; Toulany, Gorter, Harrison. Paediatr Child Health. 2022;27(5):297-309) when caring for young people with complex health needs. In response, a training and education programme was co-developed by child and adult hospice services to strengthen transition pathways and staff competence and confidence.Aims This project aimed to create a collaborative training programme to better equip adult hospice staff to support young people throughout and following their transition from paediatric to adult services.Methods The programme was designed using an active teaching method, covering key areas such as complex medical conditions (e.g. dystonia, epilepsy), symptom management, enteral feeding, ethics, and therapeutic activities. Pre and post session self-ratings (n=101) captured changes in participants’ familiarity with the subject and confidence in applying skills, alongside qualitative reflections and learning from real-time case involvement.Results The results show substantial improvement in both understanding and confidence following the training. Mean subject familiarity scores rose from 2.40 to 3.88, and confidence in applying skills from 2.62 to 3.78 out of 5. The ‘Enteral Feeding’ session saw the greatest gains, with familiarity increasing from 2.2 to 4.2 and confidence from 2.4 to 4.0, attributed to its practical, collaborative format. A real-time case involving a young person with dystonia provided immediate opportunities to apply learning, reinforcing knowledge and boosting skill application. Tools such as epilepsy care plans were adopted more widely by adult teams, extending impact beyond the training group.Conclusions The training enhanced staff competence, confidence, and inter-hospice collaboration. Feedback highlighted the need for improved pre-course preparation. Participants reported the programme had ‘built the bridge’ between services, fostering smoother transitions and shared understanding.This work was supported by a grant from the Masonic Charitable Foundation managed by Hospice UK as part of the Transitional Care for Young People programme.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Alexander Devine, Maidenhead, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Cheryl Croft"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Alexander Devine, Maidenhead, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Emma McKeever"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Thames Hospice, Maidenhead, UK"
      ],
      "name": "James Hill"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P-153 Building the bridge: enhancing transition from child to adult palliative care through collaborative education",
  "uid": "df2d0d1b-f907-53b9-af9b-fd815b0878e4"
}