Parent Education for Developmental Literacy (PEDaL) Pilot Study: Neonatal nursery education program for improving parent knowledge of infant development.
Parent Education for Developmental Literacy (PEDaL): Neonatal nursery parent education program for improving the developmental literacy of mothers and fathers of very preterm infants.
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
40 participants
Dec 24, 2017
Interventional
Conditions
Summary
There is a great deal of variability in neurodevelopmental outcomes for babies and children born very preterm. A number of antenatal and neonatal complications have been associated with increased risk for adverse neurodevelopmental sequelae. Yet currently there is a paucity of evidence surrounding the effect of parent developmental literacy as a protective enabler for optimal neurodevelopment following very preterm birth. This pilot study seeks to address this knowledge gap by exploring whether a parent education program for mothers and fathers of very preterm infants is effective in improving parent developmental literacy. Our aim is to build practical evidence regarding PEDaL program efficacy, acceptability and feasibility that is specific to the Australian health care service. The study setting is a large metropolitan Neonatal Nursery in South Australia, comprising intensive care and special care units. Sample size = 20 families with babies born at less than 32 completed weeks' gestation and 20 multi-disciplinary staff employed within the Neonatal Nursery. Recruitment period is 4 months. Parent participants will undertake an education program designed to improve their understanding of their baby’s development, and how they can support this in the first months after preterm birth. The program begins early, whilst inpatient in the Neonatal Nursery, and continues until 4 – 6 weeks post discharge. We will use a pre-test post-test study design. Primary outcome is parent developmental literacy. Secondary outcomes include parent sense of competence, parent mental health, program acceptability and satisfaction as assessed by parents and multi-disciplinary neonatal staff. Length of stay and infant readmission to hospital within 30 days of discharge are also secondary outcomes for the study.
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Interventions
The intervention for this pilot study is an internet based, neonatal nurse led parent education program to enhance developmental literacy following preterm birth. Parents will be provided with education program materials from enrolment into the study, until the date of their first routine neonatal clinic appointment at 4-6 weeks post discharge. Duration of the program will vary according to the gestational age and severity of illness of the baby. For example, parents of a baby born at 24 weeks' gestation will not be approached until the baby is clinically more stable between 27-30 weeks' post menstrual age (PMA). Duration of the program for this family would be approximately 16 weeks. In contrast, parents of a baby born at 32 weeks' gestation will be approached within 4 days of delivery. Duration of the program for this family would be approximately 8 weeks. Parent Easy Guides from Parenting SA and SA Department of Education and Child Development (DECD) resources were used in the development of the PEDaL parent education program. Educational materials include 8 information sheets, 8 videos, a diary that contains hands on activities to do with the baby, 2 one on one education sessions, and links to 20 external websites. Content provided is specific to premature baby development, parenting premature babies, and perinatal mental health for mothers and fathers. Parent use of the website and online resources contained within it is entirely self directed. Web resources can be accessed at any time of the day/night and parents decide how much time to spend using the website between enrolment and 4 weeks' post discharge from the Neonatal Nursery. Program dose and intensity will therefore vary between participants. The infant development diary reinforces parent online learning with hands on activities that support premature baby development. It contains specific activities for parents to do together with their baby to cue them in to the unique and evolving developmental capacities of their infant, and their role in fostering this. One on one education sessions will be delivered face to face by an experienced neonatal nurse. These sessions are planned to be personalised to the individual infant, and parents. Parents will be encouraged to ask questions specifically regarding the program, their baby's development and how they can support this. The first one on one session is 4 - 7 days after enrolment and is expected to take approx. 30 minutes. The second session occurs 4-7 days prior to discharge from the neonatal nursery. A Newborn Behaviour Observation (NBO) assessment will be included in this final session and is expected to take approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. Parent self-report will serve as an indicator of engagement with the educational content provided. Independent measures of program adherence and engagement will be collected by computer programming analytics built into the PEDaL website to track and record individual participant use during the program, and through study staff review of diary activity completion.
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ACTRN12617001596392