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It is estimated that about 10 million children and youth aged 0–17 years in the United States have special healthcare needs and disabilities. Preparing youth with special healthcare needs and disabilities for the eventual transition to adult healthcare should start in early adolescence. Experts and professional association guidelines recommend that the timing of the transfer to adult care should be based on a young person’s readiness and ability to negotiate the adult healthcare system. Best results call for individualized planning and ongoing skills development.

The Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ) is a validated, patient-centered questionnaire that providers and families can use to assess youths’ ability to make appointments, to understand their medications and to develop other skills needed for transition to adult care. The TRAQ can be used by child health providers, educators and family members to identify areas in which youth need education and training to achieve independence in transition-relevant skills. The TRAQ can be used by youth themselves to identify areas in which they can set goals for the achievement of skills that will help them manage their health and health care into adulthood.

The TRAQ can be administered in either primary care or specialty healthcare settings. It is designed to be self-administered and it takes less than 5 minutes for youth to fill it out. The questionnaire can also be filled out by caretakers to get their perspective on their youth’s transition skills.

Use of this instrument has the potential to improve transition assessment and support and improve health outcomes during healthcare transition for youth with special health care needs.