SUMMARY OF TWITTER CHAT

Thank you for joining in with this tweet chat – it was a great discussion, bringing exposure on importance of getting transition from inpatient care to community care correct and supportive for CYP and families.The chat included so many points, that there was crossover between questions,in particular, question 1 and 2 became amalgamated.

A comment that really resonated with @LucyAlexandria and @AmyFrounks was that: “transition from being a patient in the detached hospital environment to suddenly becoming a patient in your familiar home environment must be jarring.” @sn_barnes  was incredibly accurate in this statement as from personal experience it can be so hard to cope with returning home and the change in sensory stimuli. Inparticular, the change in support networks and the freedom of seeing outdoors can be incredibly overwhelming and anxiety provoking – something that really takes time to get used to.

KEY TIPS:

• Involve the GP - @HLB27 raised the importance of involving the GP. It is so important as when in the community, a GP that has been involved and is aware of the circumstances can really help to support the child or young adult.

• Organise MDTs – Start the conversations from the beginning, including the YP at the centre, listen to the Young person and their families and start to coordinate the services, looking at local provisions and their expertise.

• Don’t rush it – it isn’t worth getting it wrong, it will only reduce confidence and increase anxiety and fear in the YA and their family. Take a bit longer to get it right!

• Don’t forget a pharmacists role – Pharmacists can play an influential role in making sure that medication management is correct, involve them in the care and discharge.

Some of the key questions and answers:

Question 1: When you think about a YP leaving inpatient care,and transitioning into the community, what do you forsee as being the greatest challenges?

Question 2: How do you facilitate the transition between inpatient and community care looking at initiating and maintaining, for YP withLTC?

• @robbradley01 raised a valid point about how the support will be different whilst in hospital than in the community and that it is important for a level of support to be met.

•  This became a theme with @NinaHeighington  and @spencer_sian both agreeing. A way to help alleviate the fear is conducting “a good holistic assessment, I’ve found by going to chatting to families everyday onthe ward and doing an early help assessment I get a good overview of what they might need”. - @NinaHeighington 

• In addition, starting the conversations early was particularly important, making sure all professionals are listening to the Young People as well as the family.

Question 3: How would you facilitate more healthy relationships between their family and their peers?

• @cdodd09 thought about how it is tricky to balance YAs independence and the families. As @WeCYPnurses suggested, maybe there is too much expectation from parents. It is important to promote good relationships by listening to what the CYP want.

• Communication was raised from both @robbradley01 and @islafairley  and was represented on the word cloud. Its critical role can really help to build relationships with the family.

• Facilitating peer relationships between CYP and their peers wasn’t directly answered, but it is important and revolves around good communication as well.  It is important for reintegrating into society.

Question 4: Reflecting on this chat and moving forwards, what would you now do differently to facilitate the transition?

• Once again @NinaHeighington came up with some great suggestions, in particular: Assessing, planning for all eventualities,early referrals to services so they are in place, setting initial visit dates,providing self help mechanisms and a safety net plan, following up afterwards,ensuring it is working for the young person and meets the practical aspects as well as social aspects. Equally making sure that the CYP and family are adjusting to the new routine.

• Key theme was involving YP in all discussions and decisions from day 1. In addition, planning in advance and ensuring the community teams have the knowledge to meet the YPs needs.

• Better coordination of services.

• Early communication.

A question from @JacobAshton10 during the chat was “how can pharmacists make transitions from caresettings easier for young people?”

This question certainly provoked a lot of thought about the role of pharmacists in this transition. @cdodd09 asked if pharmacists should be invited to discharge meetings. This received a positive response and was identified as important for compliance and medication supply.Self-administering medications can take time to get used to, especially when they are new or if the person hasn’t had to manage them in hospital.

Massive 'Thanks' to both Amy and Lucy who gave their time, personal experience and expertise in this subject for us all to have a really great chat.  They have also done all the pre-chat info and this post chat summary.  Very much appreciated by all who joined in and the WeCYPNs team xx