Lost and Found in Transition: evolving approaches to enabling young people in complex circumstances to navigate successful journeys to adulthood

Medforth, N (2025) Lost and Found in Transition: evolving approaches to enabling young people in complex circumstances to navigate successful journeys to adulthood. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

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Abstract

This thesis integrates my peer reviewed publications, including those based on projects commissioned by a range of organisations. The theoretical concept of transition and its application by professional disciplines is critically examined. The golden thread acknowledges that as young people progress towards young adulthood, they can frequently fall between gaps in support services or experience poor transition outcomes. This is particularly problematic for young people with long term conditions, disabilities, challenges associated with mental health, neurodiversity, or adverse childhood experiences, and young carers. It may also apply to other groups of young people. Problems occur when service providers consider transition from linear, service-centric or sector specific perspectives because young people experience development across numerous life-course trajectories (sometimes simultaneously).
Two of my peer reviewed publications (Medforth, Timpson, Greenop and Lavin, 2015; Medforth and Rooksby, 2017) evaluate projects which lay the foundations of skills and knowledge in young children which will be useful at later stages of transition (health literacy, learning to navigate and access services, and giving feedback as a service user). Four further peer-reviewed publications use triangulated case studies to explore the transition experiences of young people who face additional challenges; living with long term conditions, disabilities and/ or mental health problems; growing up as “looked after” young people; balancing the challenges of adolescence with responsibility of caring for a family member. (Medforth and Huntingdon, 2018a; Medforth and Huntingdon, 2018b; Medforth, Evans, Hills, Madden and Oyston, 2019; Medforth, 2022). Whilst the experience of the young person is central, complementary insights of the young person’s family, practitioners, and professionals lead to recommendations for service development and practice improvement. How these publications are located within the evolving global policy and evidence base is considered in a further publication; a systematically synthesised integrative review summarises research using a range of methodologies and foci on the topic of transition support (Medforth and Boyle, 2023).
The thesis concludes by exploring arguments for a re-conceptualisation of transition itself. In my final peer-reviewed publication (Medforth, 2025) I propose a more holistic bio-psycho-ecological approach which assures the voice of young service users is heard and enables them to contribute to service developments as active citizens. It is possible to integrate globally evolving research, pathways, models, and interventions into the bio-psycho-ecological approach, which will be of interest to an international readership because principles can be adapted to respond to both shared and country-specific challenges, developments and models of service provision as we approach the second quarter of the twenty-first century.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Transition; Young People; Complex Circumstances; Disability; Long Term Condition; Mental Health; Neurodiversity; Looked After; Young Carer; Young Adult Carer
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Public and Allied Health
Date of acceptance:	8 August 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	8 September 2025
Date Deposited:	08 Sep 2025 07:50
Last Modified:	10 Sep 2025 13:56
DOI or ID number:	10.24377/LJMU.t.00026996
Supervisors:	Kane, R, Timpson, H and Williams, J
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26996

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