Supporting your teenager to move from children’s to adult allergy services

Moving from children’s to adult health services is called transitioning to adult services.

It is important to start talking about transitioning with the allergy team and your teenager before it happens. This may be around the age of 14 years but depends on their health status, their understanding, maturity and readiness to move to adult services. Some teenagers may require support from their parents to transition to adult allergy services, some may choose to do it on their own.

Not all teenagers need to immediately move to a specialist adult allergy service. The paediatric specialist will let you and your child know if they will be transitioned to adult allergy services, or if they will continue care with their GP. 

Depending on how often you see the paediatric specialist, you may not have much time to talk with the allergy team about this change. Below are a few ideas for parents to help their teenager get ready for this move.

What parents can do to help their teenager transition from children’s to adult allergy services:

General health management

• Help your teenager to get their own Medicare card after they have turned 15. If they are on your card, they can choose to either get their own card with the same number or get their own Medicare number. Visit  Medicare card – Services Australia to find out more information.
• If your teenager doesn’t already have a regular GP, help them find one before they finish seeing their paediatric specialist. Some teenagers are happy to see their family GP, while others prefer to have a different GP. Many GPs bulk bill children under the age of 16 years old.
• Talk to your teenager about their rights as a health consumer. For more information visit Your healthcare rights | healthdirect.
• If they are not already taking the lead on managing their allergies, encourage them to do this by:
  • Being responsible for their medications, such as carrying the adrenaline device and ASCIA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis.
  • For food allergy – teaching them about reading food labels, talking with food service staff about their allergies, learning to cook.

Paediatric allergy specialist appointments

• Make sure the paediatric allergy clinic (hospital or private) has up-to-date GP details so they can send any documents to the GP.
• Give your teenager time during the appointment with the paediatric specialist without you there. This gives them an opportunity to talk about things they might not want to talk about in front of you. If staff do not offer this, you can ask for it.
• Ask for a clinic letter from the paediatric specialist outlining history and current management. A copy should also be sent to the GP.
• Ask your pediatric specialist for information outlining what your teenager should do:
  • Is ongoing allergy care to be done by the GP or adult allergy specialist?
  • When should they see the adult allergy specialist e.g. in a year, three years, or if something about their allergies or health changes?
  • Will they refer your teenager directly to an adult allergy specialist or do they find their own adult allergy specialist and ask their GP for a referral to see them?

Referral to adult allergy services

There are long wait lists in the public system and in some private clinics. You will need to plan early.

Remind your teenager that they can choose to take a support person with them when they see an adult allergy specialist or GP. Or they may want to see the doctor by themselves. If you are going to support your teenager at a doctor’s appointment, try and encourage them to take the lead in the appointment by asking and answering questions, and having time with the doctor on their own. Adult doctors will talk with your teenager and should not be directing questions to you. This is often different to paediatric clinics and can be difficult for some parents and teenagers to get used to.

How much support your teenager will need to transition from children’s to adult allergy service depends on many things. The health system can be confusing and overwhelming so plan early, take it step by step, and ask your paediatric allergy specialist for clear instructions.

For more information on transitioning from children’s to adult allergy services:

• The National Allergy Council: Transition of Care standard
• Allergy250k: Managing your health
• Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA): Transitioning from Paediatric to Adult Care.