Close Collaboration and Discharge Readiness

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Close Collaboration with Parents: The Close Collaboration with Parents intervention is an educational model for healthcare staff working in NICUs. It aims to improve the ability of the members of the NICU healthcare team to I) observe the infants' individual behaviors and needs, II) support parents to take the initiative and share their observations and understanding of their infant's behaviors and to collaboratively plan the infant's care with the healthcare staff, III) understand the individual story of the family regarding parenthood through a dialogue with parents, and IV) involve parents in the decision-making about the care of their baby from an early stage of care through to the preparation for discharge. The final goal is to improve the care culture in the NICUs by changing the attitudes of the healthcare staff and the care practices of the unit to be more in line with family-centered care principles. It usually takes 1.5 years for each NICU to complete the intervention.

Study summary

This prospective non-randomized controlled before-after comparison study aims to evaluate the effects of the Close Collaboration with Parents, a family-centered care intervention for NICU staff, on parents of the newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We focus on (1) family centered care of the NICU rated by parents, (2) parental anxiety symptoms, and (3) their discharge readiness.

The intervention is planned to be implemented between December 2023 and December 2024.

The investigators will collect data from parents whose newborns are admitted to the NICU before and after the intervention and compare the two groups. In most cases, the parents of the two groups belong to different cohorts.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Quality of family centered care rated by parents — at discharge (about 1 month of age)
  The family centered care provided by the medical professionals in the NICU is assessed by parents using a questionnaire modified from DigiFCC questions. It consists of 9 questions. Each question has the Likert scale from 1 to 7 (1 not at all and 7 very much; 0 not applicable). A higher score indicates better family centered care received by parents. The average score of all questions will be used. This is rated by both parents separately.

Trial sites (1)

More Nagano Children's Hospital trials in Japan

Other trials for the same condition