Copy
Empowering Youth and Families for
Complex Transitions from Pediatric to Adult Care:
A Palliative Care Lens
 
REGISTER NOW
DESCRIPTION:

Navigating the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare and other vital services represents a significant and often overwhelming challenge for youth with complex chronic conditions and their families. This process requires moving away from trusted pediatric providers into an unfamiliar adult care system.  Pediatric palliative care clinicians are well positioned to support this critical transition, utilizing their core skills in care coordination, communication, and listening to guide youth and their families.  In this presentation, Drs. Bower and Lotstein will describe common concerns youth with complex chronic conditions face as they age into adulthood.  The presenters will then share strategies and resources that can be employed by palliative care teams at the practice, clinic and institutional level to facilitate successful health care transitions.

OBJECTIVES:

  1. Describe the challenges that adolescents and young adults with complex chronic conditions encounter when transitioning from pediatric to adult healthcare.

  2. Understand how core pediatric palliative care skills can be employed to prepare families for healthcare transitions.

  3. Identify 3 specific resources and strategies that can be used to support patients and families for successful health care transitions.

DATE & TIME:
Tuesday, May 19,  2026
12:00 PT  |  1:00 MT  |  2:00 CT  |  3:00 ET
About the Presenters
Kimberly Bower, MD, FAAHPM, HMDC

Dr. Bower is a palliative care physician, educator, and patient and family advocate. Her work has focused on building home and community based palliative care models in various settings including for hospices, home-health agencies, and health plans. She served as Chief of Palliative Medicine at Rady Children’s Health San Diego from 2014-2018. She holds leadership positions in both the adult and pediatric palliative care advocacy organizations in California. Dr. Bower currently cares for patients at Rady Children’s Health San Diego and serves as the Medical Director of the Pediatric team at The Elizabeth Hospice.
 

Debra Lotstein, MD, MPH, FAAP, FAAHPM

Dr. Lotstein is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine and serves as the Medical Director of the Center for Healthy Adolescent Transition (CHAT) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). She served as Chief of the Division of Comfort and Palliative Care at CHLA from 2014 to 2023.  Her clinical, research and advocacy efforts are dedicated to improving access to coordinated, high-quality healthcare for children and youth with serious illness, focused specifically on care across settings and through the transition into adulthood. Dr. Lotstein is also a Steering Committee Member of the Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition of California. 
  Save 25% when you register for 4 or more webinars.
  • Register individually or as a group for one webinar or the entire series
  • Discounts apply for multiple webinars and group registration
  • Watch at your convenience - all registrants will receive a link to the recorded webinar following the live presentation
  • CE is available for Nurses and Social Workers for $15/CE/webinar
  • FREE registration is available for parents and students
  • Email info@ppcwebinars.org with any questions
 
PPC Webinar Series Website
 
Tues, June 16:
Anti-racism and Health Equity in Pediatric Serious Illness: Next Steps in Maintaining Commitment - Khaliah Johnson, MD / Arika Patneaude, MSW, LICSW, APHSW-C

Thurs, August 20:
Improving Pediatric End of Life Legacy Building at Home - 
Alisha McGuire, MSW, LCSW, APHSW-C

Tues, September 15 - Emotional Toll: Caring for the Caregiver - 
Kat Hurley, LCSW, APHSW-C

Tues, October 20:
The Promise of Supported Decision-Making: From Practice to Legal Instrument - 
Bertha S. Hayden, Esq / Alberta Kaichian, MSW, LCSW, CCTP, C-DBT

Tues, November 17: 
Integrating Trauma-Informed Practices: Compassionate Care for Others and Ourselves - 
Heather Bemis, PhD / Linda Radbill, PhD
Continuing Education (CE)

CE for the PPC Webinar Series is available for NURSES AND SOCIAL WORKERS through the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC).
Purchase Past PPC Webinars 

Since 2018, the Pediatric Palliative Care Webinar Series has been providing high quality educational programming for the entire interdisciplinary team. These past webinars are available for purchase at a nominal cost. We encourage you to use these recorded webinars for individual or group staff training, IDT meetings or any time you need to bring an expert into your organization's training room. 
 
Purchase Past Webinars
About the Series

As the number of children with chronic, complex and life-limiting illness continues to increase, the training needs of physicians and healthcare teams has increased as well. Many adult providers, family practitioners and smaller hospice teams have identified training as the leading barrier to their ability to provide end-of-life care to children. Larger systems with new or established pediatric palliative care (PPC) teams often struggle to find time for education or funding to support professional development.

A team from Pennsylvania’s Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition (PPCC) and Children’s Hospice & Palliative Care Coalition of California (CHPCC) have collaborated to offer the PPC Webinar Series to raise the visibility of pediatric palliative care and to build clinicians’ competencies and confidence in providing care to children.