CHANGE works to empower youth and support high-quality healthcare transitions through advising individuals, families, and professionals. Run by a board of young leaders with experience navigating barriers to healthcare, it aims to help those at risk of difficulties transitioning to adult life. The organization seeks to empower youth to understand their own medical histories and advocate for themselves, as some parents can be overprotective in a way that prevents this. Ultimately, CHANGE strives to empower youth, improve transitions from pediatric to adult healthcare, and increase successful adult outcomes and lives through social events that educate on self-advocacy.

1. Good evening, I am Mark Steidl . Tonight I am here to speak about the vision of CHANGE,
which stands for The Children’s Hospital Advisory Network for Guidance and Empowerment.
CHANGE works towards a culture that values youth empowerment and recognizes the
importance of high quality healthcare transition supports.
But how? The answer is provided by our young leaders. We advise individuals, families, and
professionals about the transition process so that individuals who might experience barriers to
healthcare will instead make successful transition to their adult lives. Most of us who are
members of the advisory board have had or are now having trouble transitioning to adult life so
we understand those barriers.
We probably have parents and caregivers in the audience tonight. That’s great.
I acknowledge the parents for a specific reason. Parents know everything about their kids,
especially their medical history. However, there comes a time when the kids should get to know
their own medical history. That’s one issue that almost all youth face when they are transitioning
to adult care.
Another issue would be that some parents are overprotective. I understand that parents are
concerned about how their kids’ symptoms. The problem with that is. How do I explain what my
kids might be feeling to the doctor? Parents, your kids can explain their symptoms. It’s their
body.
So, in summary, CHANGE has three goals:
 Empower youth
 Improve transition especially from adolescent healthcare to adult medicine
 Increase successful adult lives and outcomes (especially in healthcare)
 Every month we have a social event the purpose of these socials is to educate and
encourage youth to be their own self-advocate in any situation
With these goals, the board can be a resource for anybody who is having trouble understanding
how to transition especially from adolescent healthcare to adult medicine.
Tonight’s speakers will capture all the aspects of CHANGE, including our philosophy. Thank
you for coming to our event.