Welcome
to the New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health

Meeting the complex healthcare needs of individuals, especially frail elders and families coping with chronic illnesses such as heart failure, diabetes, and depression in a person-centered, safe, timely, effective, and efficient manner will be a, if not the, dominant healthcare challenge in coming decades. Our mission in the Center for Transitions and Health is to generate, disseminate, and translate advances in science related to nursing’s influence on transitions in health among individuals and their caregivers. Our research agenda focuses on the growing population of chronically ill, with a special focus on frail elders and their caregivers. Utilizing multiple research methods, the transitions studies being developed and conducted by our members is creating a body of knowledge that will directly benefit this vulnerable population. Understanding transitions in health is essential for nurses to play a major role in health promotion, prevention of health problems, and the effective management of people of all ages and at all stages of health. Interventions during transitions present opportunities for maximal effect, and thus optimal results.

Unfortunately, the common experience for these vulnerable people is that they and their families must navigate a fragmented care system with very poor information about a patchwork of services that often do not meet their needs. A research focus on transitions in health provides an opportunity to explore the dynamic interplay between the patient and a multitude of physical, psychological, social, and behavioral domains during major points of change along the health and illness continuum. Understanding the meaning, purpose, and the effect of transitions on the individual, family, organization, and society will improve our ability to influence health outcomes for patients and their caregivers, both nationally and internationally.

Visit the New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health