Congratulations to RWJF Nursing and Health Policy Fellow LisaMarie Turk, who has been invited to participate in the New Mexico Health Care Transitions Task Force. The task force has been formed to address the challenges faced by children with special health care needs and their families as the children transition from pediatric to adult health care providers. A 2010 national survey of children with special health care needs found that the prevalence of children between the ages of twelve and seventeen with special health care needs in New Mexico was 17.9%, compared to the national average of 16.8%.

Currently, few systems or resources are available to aid these children and their families in the transition from pediatric to adult health care systems. Further, policies, systems, and services tend to lack coordination and are fragmented. The primary objective of this task force will be to identify and study viable strategies that will bridge the gap in New Mexico for these children, an objective that initiative overlaps with LisaMarie’s anticipated dissertation research.