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Parental Participation on the Neonatal Ward - the neoPARTNER Study

Collaborating to Improve Neonatal Care: ParentAl paRticipation on The NEonatal waRd - the neoPARTNER Study

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05343403
Acronym
neoPARTNER
Enrollment
613
Registered
2022-04-25
Start date
2022-03-07
Completion date
2025-03-01
Last updated
2024-02-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Infant Development, Infant, Newborn, Disease, Infant, Premature, Diseases, Infant, Small for Gestational Age, Maternal Distress, Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia, Neonatal Infection, Neonatal Sepsis, Parent-Child Relations, Parents, Perinatal Problems, Premature, Premature Birth, Prematurity, Small for Gestational Age Infant

Keywords

Family Centred Rounds, Family Integrated Care, Shared Decision Making, Parent participation

Brief summary

Objective: To investigate the effect of FCR as part of the FICare principles during hospital stay, on parental stress at discharge in parents of preterm or ill infants admitted to the neonatal ward for \>7 days as compared to standard medical rounds (SMR) without parents as part of standard neonatal care (SNC).

Detailed description

Parents are often appointed a passive role during the admission of their preterm (born before 37 weeks of gestational age) or illinfant. Multiple studies have demonstrated that information and communication are crucial for families of intensive care patients.However, common practice in neonatal wards regarding daily rounds is that the medical rounds are only attended by the physicianand nurse without presence and participation of the parents. Parents are usually updated by the nurse afterwards. Family CentredRounds (FCR) include parents on daily rounds (digital or physical presence), involving them in the process of patient management,allowing them to hear their infants' conditions first-hand, to provide information on their child's general wellbeing themselves and toask questions and participate in shared decision making. Family Integrated Care (FICare) comprises a framework to implement FCRby bringing parents, medical and nursing staff together and involving parents as equal partners, minimizing separation, andsupporting parent-infant closeness. FICare consists of a collaborative program of psychological, educational, communication, andenvironmental strategies to support parents to cope with neonatatal environment and to prepare them to be able to emotionally,cognitively, and physically care for their infant. Objective of the study: To investigate the effect of FCR during hospital stay, accompanied by FICare, on parental stress at discharge in parents of preterm(born before 37 weeks of gestational age) or ill (for instance with sepsis or small for gestational age) infants admitted to the neonatalward for \>7 days as compared to standard daily rounds (SDR) without parents with SNC. We primarily hypothesize that FCR andFICare are superior to SNC with regard to parental stress at discharge. Secondary outcomes in parents include participation inneonatal care, experience in shared decision making, parent-infant bonding, biomarkers of stress (in hair and saliva), breastmilkcomposition and the longitudinal course of parent mental health after infant discharge. Infant outcomes include breastfeeding atdischarge, growth, biomarkers of stress in saliva and length of hospital stay. For healthcare professionals outcomes such as workengagement and autonomy will be analysed at the cluster level. Cost-effectiveness analysis will be done as well at the level ofparents and healthcare professionals. Study design: A multicentre stepped wedge cluster randomised trial will be conducted. A total of 10 hospitals with a level 2 neonatal ward in theNetherlands will participate. Timing of start of intervention will be randomised between sites. Study population: All (parents of) infants admitted to the neonatal ward directly after birth, or transferred to a participating centre after birth in aneonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are eligible for participation in the study. Intervention (if applicable): The intervention will consist of parental participation in medical rounds (FCR). Parents and healthcare professionals will besupported by the four pillars of FICare: parent education, education of healthcare professionals, psychosocial support andenvironment of the neonatal ward. Primary study parameters/outcome of the study: The main outcome is parental stress at discharge, as defined by the total score on the Parental Stress Scale (PSS:NICU). ThePSS:NICU is a three-dimensional tool, in which parents express the amount of stress they experienced by rating 26 items on a 5-point Likert scale (not stressful at all to extremely stressful). Secundary study parameters/outcome of the study (if applicable): Secondary outcome measures on the individual level will be parent participation in neonatal care, parent-infant bonding andexperiences in shared decision making. The longitudinal course of parental mental health (anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress)will be analyzed, as well as biomarkers of stress (in saliva, hair and breastmilk) and breastmilk composition. Also, neonatalsecondary outcome measures will be taken into account, specifically length of stay, breastfeeding rates at discharge, biomarkers ofstress in saliva and growth. On the cluster level we will study professional secondary outcome measures such as work engagementand autonomy.

Interventions

The intervention will consist of FICare, including parental participation in medical rounds (FCR). Parents and healthcare professionals will be educated and supported by the four pillars of FICare: parent education, education of healthcare professionals, psychosocial support and a supportive environment of the neonatal ward.

Sponsors

Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)
CollaboratorOTHER
Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Days to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Infant requiring hospital admission directly (within 24 hours) after birth; * Parent of 18 years or older; * Written informed consent of both parents.

Exclusion criteria

* Infant's hospital stay shorter than 7 days; * Infant with severe congenital or syndromal anomaly; * Infant with critical illness who is unlikely to survive; * Parent with current psychosocial problems (such as posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia or psychotic disorders) with or without medication which have not been stable over the past year; * Involvement of child protective services in the family; * Parent not able or not willing to fill out questionnaires in English or Dutch.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Level of parental stressImmediately after intervention (at discharge of the infant)Patient Reported Outcome: Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Miles, 1993). Range: 0-135 points, higher score indicating higher levels of parental stress.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Parent-infant attachmentImmediately after intervention (at discharge of the infant)Maternal (or Paternal) Postnatal Attachment Scale (Condon et al., 1998). Range: 19-95 points, lower score indicating problematic mother-to-infant bonding or father-to-infant bonding, respectively.
Level of parental participation in neonatal careImmediately after intervention (at discharge of the infant)Patient Reported Outcome: CO-PARTNER tool (van Veenendaal et al, 2021). Range: 0-62, higher score indicating higher level of participation.
Symptoms of parental depressionPre- and post-intervention, measured at discharge of the infant through study completion at the (corrected) age of 12 monthsPatient Reported Outcome: PROMIS Depression, Shortform (PROMIS Health Organisation). Range: 8-40 points (calculated into a T-score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10), higher score indicating more symptoms of depression.
Symptoms of parental anxietyPre- and post-intervention, measured at discharge of the infant through study completion at the (corrected) age of 12 months, 3, 6 and 12 months corrected agePatient Reported Outcome: PROMIS Anxiety, Shortform (PROMIS Health Organisation). Range: 8-40 points (calculated into a T-score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10), higher score indicating more symptoms of anxiety.
Symptoms of parental posttraumatic stressPre- and post-intervention, measured at discharge of the infant through study completion at the (corrected) age of 12 monthsPatient Reported Outcome: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (Weathers et al., 2013). Range: 0-80, higher score indicating more symptoms of posttraumatic stress.
Cost-effectiveness on parent and infant levelAt the corrected age of 12 months.Patient Reported Outcome: Productivity Cost Questionnaire & Medical Consumption Questionnaire (Bouwmans et al, 2015 & 2013, respectively). No scale applicable.
Infant developmentAt the corrected age of 12 months.Patient Reported Outcome: Ages and Stages Questionnaire, edition 3 (Flamant et al, 2011). Range: 0-300 points, higher score indicating better infant development.
Experiences of Shared Decision MakingImmediately after intervention (at discharge of the infant)Patient Reported Outcome: Shared Decision Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9, Kriston et al. 2010). Range: original score of 0-45 points calculated into score with range of 0-100 points, higher score indicating higher levels of shared decision making.
Amount of breastfeedingImmediately after intervention (at discharge of the infant).Amount of breastfeeding defined as percentage of total (enteral) intake
Infant growthPre- and post-intervention, measured at discharge of the infant through study completion at the (corrected) age of 12 monthsRate of weight gain during hospital stay and during first year of life.
Change in experience of Shared decision making (healthcare professionals)Through study completion, an average of 21 months.Self-reported outcome: Shared Decision Making Questionnaire-Physician Version. (Rodenburg-Vandenbussche et al., 2015). Range: original score of 0-45 points calculated into score with range of 0-100 points, higher score indicating higher levels of shared decision making.
Change in experienced work engagement (healthcare professionals)Through study completion, an average of 21 months.Self-reported outcome: Utrechtse Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli et al., 2003). Range: 0-6 points, higher score indicating higher levels of work engagement.
Change in experienced work autonomy (healthcare professionals)Through study completion, an average of 21 months.Self-reported outcome: Job Content Questionnaire, Decision Authority Subscale (Karasek et al., 1998). Range: 3-12 points, higher score indicating more feeling of autonomy.
Cost-effectiveness (healthcare professionals)Through study completion, an average of 21 months.Work absence as registered at the hospital administration, and self-reported outcome: Productivity Cost Questionnaire (Bouwmans et al., 2015). No range applicable.
Family Centred RoundsThrough study completion, an average of 21 months.% of medical rounds with parental presence as reported by healthcare professionals
Length of hospital stay (infant)During intervention (estimated average of 21 days).Duration of the hospital admission of the infant, expressed in days.

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 5, 2026