Cooperation Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital and Princess Máxima Center: young adults in paediatric ICU

In most cases, young adults from the age of 18 go to the Intensive Care for adults but to give continuity to paediatric cancer treatment, this will be different for children with cancer from now on. Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, UMC Utrecht and the Princess Máxima Centre are committed to providing optimal cancer care for children, adolescents and young adults.

Louis Bont, head of the Children’s Division at UMC Utrecht/WKZ: ‘At the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital and UMC Utrecht, everything revolves around life-course care; from before birth into adulthood. Here, special attention is paid to the transition from childhood to young adulthood. And especially when dealing with the consequences of cancer.’

Wouter Kollen, Clinical Director Quality of Life at the Princess Máxima Centre, says: ‘With this agreement, we ensure that the accumulated expertise in the ICU around children with cancer, is maximised and that the support of our children and young adults is also as optimal as possible.’ Of course, this takes into account the young adult’s individual needs and available capacity. This concerns vulnerable patients and their loved ones in specific situations where customization and care are always of great importance.

Young adults

The period of young adulthood is a special phase in everyone’s life with many challenges. In general terms, paediatricians care for chronically ill children until the age of 18. After that, they transition to adult care. This transition is called transition care and requires careful preparation and supervision. This ensures that young adults maintain confidence in care, remain compliant and that the course of the disease and follow-up are not adversely affected. By providing intensive care in the paediatric ICU to young adults up to 21 years of age, another step has been taken in improving care for children with cancer in the Netherlands.