Milestone

Transition, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Young Adults, Therapy, Health Care System

Project Coordinator:

• Prof. Dr. Swaran P. Singh, University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Cooperation Partners:

• University of Warwick, United Kingdom
• IRCCS Fatebenefratelli, Italy
• King’s College London, United Kingdom
• Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, France
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
• Yulius Academie, Netherlands
• Erasmus MC, Netherlands
• University College Dublin, Ireland
• Klinički Bolnički Centar, Croatia
• HealthTracker Ltd., United Kingdom
• Concentris Research Management, Germany
• ZfP Südwürttemberg, Germany
• Josefinum Augsburg, Germany

02/2014-01/2019

The MILESTONE project addresses the question to which extent medical-therapeutic services for young people who move from child and youth psychiatric-psychotherapeutic services on to those of adulthood (transition) can be improved. At a time when both systems should work hand in hand, young people often encounter obstacles and a seamless continuation of professional assistance is to their disadvantage delayed or lost.

Contents:

• Assessment of transition within Europe
• Development and validation of specific research tools to determine the transition needs and quality
• Carrying out a combined follow-up study to study the possible superiority of an accompanied transition
• Development and implementation of "training packages" within continuing education
• Dissemination (transmission of knowledge and study results) in different forums (young people and their guardians and partners, practitioners, scientific societies, politicians...) as a basis for further, possibly intra-European developments
• Compilation of specific recommendations

Description of the Project

• Carrying out a comprehensive systematic assessment study on the transition situation in Europe as well as on training contents of the topic
• Standardized collection of data in 50 child and adolescent psychiatric institutions in eight European countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, France, Croatia, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany).
• Participants in the study: a total of 1046 (110 from Germany, i.e. Ulm, Ravensburg and Augsburg) adolescents between 15 and 18 years of age, including their guardians/caretakers and therapists (doctors, psychologists, psychotherapists)
• A total of four surveys every 6 or 9 months in order to collect longitudinal data
• Intervention: accompanied transition (analysis of the first data collection as a basis for feedback to therapists providing further treatment initially not yet integrated in the adult care system)
• Economic evaluation of the intervention
• Development of training guidelines
• Dissemination: publication of the results, participation at congresses and scientific events, public relations work

Current status: We are currently in the process of collecting longitudinal data.

Fegert JM, Petermann F, Freyberger HJ (2015). Transitionspsychiatrie der Adoleszenz und des jungen Erwachsenenalters“. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie , 63, pp. 151-153. https://doi.org/10.1024/1661-4747/a000234.

Mayr M, Kapusta ND, Plener PL, Pollak E, Schulze U, Freyberger HJ, Fegert JM (2015). Transitionspsychiatrie der Adoleszenz und des jungen Erwachsenenalters“. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie (2015), 63, pp. 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1024/1661-4747/a000235.

Müller S, Salgo L, Kölch M, Fegert JM (2017). Zwangsmaßnahmen in der psychiatrischen Behandlung - Transition im Spannungsfeld von elterlicher Sorge und Selbstverantwortung des jungen Menschen. Psychotherapeut 01/2017.

Swaran Singh et al. (2017). Protocol for a cohort study of adolescent mental health service users with a nested cluster-randomised controlled trial to assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of managed transition in improving transitions from child to adult mental health services. http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/7/10/e016055.full.pdf

European Union‘s Seventh Framework Programme no 602442