Congenital heart diseases (ConHD) represent 28% of all congenital abnormalities.This population has experienced an increased life expectancy due to improvements in medical services and surgical techniques. Currently, around 90% of them will reach adulthood. Due to the complexity of these disorders, children with ConHD have to be under continuing follow-up. However, when they reach 18 years, they will be transferred to adult care. In order to help the adolescent in the transitions to adulthood and adult care, transitions programs have been proposed as a complex intervention with the objective of maximizing lifelong functioning and potential through appropriate healthcare services.
Patient empowerment is recognized as an essential element of transition interventions.Through the promotion of patient empowerment the adolescents can become active partners in their care and have the knowledge and capacity to make decisions that affect their life and health status.
While the importance of transition programs has been mentioned previously, high level evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions is limited. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a transition program for adolescents with congenital heart disease. In order to asses the effectiveness of the transition program the investigators proposed a hybrid experimental design where a randomized controlled trial is embedded in a longitudinal, observational study.
During the course of the study, participants will be part of a transition program or receive usual care before being transferred to adult care. The primary outcome is level of empowerment and secondary outcomes include patient-reported health, illness perception, quality of life, health behaviors, knowledge on congenital heart disease, transition readiness, parental uncertainty and parenting.
The investigators will assess the effectiveness of the transition program by comparing the level of empowerment between the participants who received usual care and those who participated in the transition program. A higher level of empowerment from the group part of the intervention it's expected.
A process and economic evaluation of the intervention will also be undertaken. The process evaluation will evaluate the process of care delivery within the transition program. This information will helped describe the mechanism of impact, explore potential expansion to other chronic conditions and to prepare permanent implementation of the transition program in Sweden.
The economic evaluation entails an impact budget assessment and a cost-effectiveness analysis.
