Transition – the next step

The transition from pediatric to adult care has come increasingly under the spotlight in many subspecialties in medicine in the last few years. The main driving force for the implementation of local transition programs is the pediatrician who regularly sees patients unable to find adequate continuous care after transfer to adult medicine. For physicians treating adult patients the number of patients after transfer is small, so consequently the problem of transition is frequently unremarked. Most often, the success of a transition programdepends on individual “transition champions” who are proactive in the structured transition process and without whom implementation of long-lasting transition structures is very difficult. Unfortunately, there is a lack of national transition programs, mainly because most health systems are unwilling to finance the extra costs of transition, without considering that these “costs” will be an investment leading to fewer total health care costs for patients in the long run. Unfortunately, such evaluations have only been performed in single diseases up to now [1]. However, research in transition medicine has grown within the last few years. Published research initially presented experiences from local transitionprograms focused on single diseases and on the barriers of transition [2], but more recently there have been reports on diseaseindependent transition programs [3] and scientific evaluations of these have also begun. The first randomized trials in transition medicine have been initiated [4, 5] and transition guidelines from different national and international societies are now available [6–8]. Education programs for patients and parents have also been an area of research within the last few years [9, 10]. A Cochrane database analysishas recently reported that there is insufficient evidence to support interventions in transitionalmedicine and there is only low-grade evidence for a positive effect of educational programs, but it has not made any conclusions about the usefulness of transition programs themselves. The Cochrane authors conclude that there is considerable scope for the rigorous evaluation of other models of transitional care, reporting on clinical outcomes with longer term follow-up inorder toprovideevidence in this area [11]. Unfortunately, publication of transition science is often difficult. Many medical, organ-focused journals are not interested in public health issues and do not publish qualitative research, but neither is transition a focus in journals specializing in adolescent or public health. This leads to an urgent need for a publication/journal whose emphasis is solely on transition medicine. Over the past few years, the German Society of Transition Medicine has discussed this need and has now reached a decision to found a Journal of Transition Medicine, not only as the official society journal but also as a journal for researchersworking in transitionmedicineworldwide.We have decided on an open access model, linked to an experienced medical publisher and an established publication platform, in order to achieve three goals: First, to make the results of transition research easily and universally available, second to make publication uncomplicated for researchers, and third, to achieve rapid indexing in search engines such as PubMed and others. The journal aims to improve medical care for young people with chronic disease throughout the pediatric to adult medicine transitional period. Submissions are invited, not only from medical doctors, but from all disciplines working with or committed to improving transitional care, e.g. sociologists, psychologists, social workers, nurses or health service researchers. We are looking forward to the establishment of the Journal of Transition Medicine as a scientific arena for transition science research worldwide. On the journal home page you can see the wide range of manuscript types that we will accept. Our editorial board is made up of highly experienced transition medicine physicians from every continent. We invite societies other than the German Society of Transition Medicine to join us in our efforts to establish this unique journal, which will follow a fast and complete peer review process to maintain scientific quality and ensure rapid publication of accepted articles. Submission is free for members of the German Society of Transition Medicine and for invited articles, and a modest e500 for all other submissions. We welcome your best research in transitionmedicine for consideration and very much look forward to your ideas as to how to establish and improve our new journal – and, indeed, transition medicine itself.