Recent Publications by CFE Educators

The number of older adults (age fifty-five or older) incarcerated in US prisons reached an all-time high just as COVID-19 entered correctional facilities in 2020. However, little is known about COVID-19's impact on incarcerated older adults. We compared COVID-19 outcomes between older and younger adults in California state prisons from March 1, 2020, to October 9, 2021. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) revealed an increasing risk for adverse COVID-19 outcomes among older age groups (ages 55-64, 65-74, and 75 or older) compared with younger adults, including for documented infection (aOR, 1.3, 1.4, and 1.4, respectively) and hospitalization with COVID-19 (aOR, 4.6, 8.7, and 15.1, respectively). Moreover, although accounting for 17.3 percent of the California state prison population, older adults represented 85.8 percent of this population's COVID-19-related deaths. Yet a smaller percentage of older adults than younger adults were released from prison during the pandemic. The differential rates of morbidity and mortality experienced by incarcerated older adults should be considered in future pandemic response strategies regarding prisons.

The transition from pediatric to adult care is the focus of growing research. It is important to identify how to direct future research efforts for maximum effect. Our goals were to perform a scoping review of the transition literature, highlight gaps in transition research, and offer stakeholder guidance on the importance and feasibility of research questions designed to fill identified gaps. The transition literature on rheumatic diseases and other common pediatric-onset chronic diseases was grouped and summarized. Based on the findings, a survey was developed and disseminated to pediatric rheumatologists and young adults with rheumatic diseases as well as their caregivers. The transitional care needs of patients, healthcare teams, and caregivers is well described in the literature. While various transition readiness scales exist, no longitudinal posttransfer study confirms their predictive validity. Multiple outcome measures are used alone or in combination to define a successful transition or intervention. Multimodal interventions are most effective at improving transition-related outcomes. How broader health policy affects transition is poorly studied. Research questions that ranked highest for importance and feasibility included those related to identifying and tracking persons with psychosocial vulnerabilities or other risk factors for poor outcomes. Interventions surrounding improving self-efficacy and health literacy were also ranked highly. In contrast to healthcare teams (n = 107), young adults/caregivers (n = 23) prioritized research surrounding improved work, school, or social function. The relevant transition literature is summarized and future research questions prioritized, including the creation of processes to identify and support young adults vulnerable to poor outcomes.