Family integrated care:Supporting parents as primary caregivers in the neonatal intensive care unit

Family integrated care (FICare) is a collaborative model of neonatal care which aims to address the negative impacts of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment by involving parents as equal partners, minimizing separation, and supporting parent-infant closeness. FICare incorporates psychological, educational, communication, and environmental strategies to support parents to cope with the NICU environment and to prepare them to be able to emotionally, cognitively, and physically care for their infant. FICare has been associated with improved infant feeding, growth, and parent wellbeing and self-efficacy;important mediators for long-term improved infant neurodevelopmental and behavioural outcomes. FICare implementation requires multi-disciplinary commitment, staff motivation, and sufficient time for preparation and readiness for change as professionals relinquish power and control to instead develop collaborative partnerships with parents. Successful FICare implementation and culture change have been applied by neonatal teams internationally, using practical approaches suited to their local environments. Strategies such as parent and staff meetings and relational communication help to break down barriers to change by providing space for the co-creation of knowledge, the negotiation of caregiving roles and the development of trusting relationships. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability within programs supporting parental presence in neonatal units and the profound impacts of parent-infant separation. New technologies and digital innovations can help to mitigate these challenges, and support renewed efforts to embed FICare philosophy and practice in neonatal care during the COVID-19 recovery and beyond.

Effects of parental involvement in infant care in neonatal intensive care units:a meta-analysis

Objective： This meta-analysis aimed to examine the effects of parental involvement in infant care in neonatal intensive care units （NlCUs）. Methods： PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）, Wanfang database, and VIP database were searched till November 2017. Randomized controlled trials （RCTs） and controlled clinical trials （CCTs） examining the effect of parental involvement in the NICU were considered for inclusion. Resulls： We included 10 studies （three RCTs, seven CCTs） with a total of 1,851 participants. The meta-analysis demonstrated that there were no statistically significant differences on nosocomial infection between two groups （risk ratio [RR] = 0.90, 95% CI 0.63-1.30, P = 0.58）. Compared with no parental involvement groups, parental involvement groups showed more weight gain （mean difference [MD] = 1.47, 95% CI 0.65-2.29, P 〈 0.05）, higher breast-feeding rate （RR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.25-1.53, P 〈 0.05）, lower readmission rate （RR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.15-0.80, P 〈 0.05）, and higher satisfaction rate （RR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.16, P 〈 0.05）.Conclusions： Parentaiinvolvement in the NICU interventions could not increase the rate of nosocomial infection of neonates, but could improve their weight gain, breast-feeding and parental satisfaction and decrease their readmission. However, since the conclusion of this meta-analysis was drawn based on the limited number of high-quality RCTs, more hioh-quality studies should be conducted in the future to confirm its positive intervention effects.

An international study on implementation and facilitators and barriers for parent-infant closeness in neonatal units

Importance:Parent-infant closeness and active parent participation in neonatal care are important for parent and infant health.Objective:To give an overview of current neonatal settings and gain an in-depth understanding of facilitators and barriers to parent-infant closeness,zero-separation,in 19 countries.Methods:Neonatal intensive care unit(NICU)professionals,representing 45 NICUs from a range of geographic regions in Europe and Canada,were purposefully selected and interviewed June–December 2018.Thematic analysis was conducted to identify,analyze and report patterns(themes)for parent-infant closeness across the entire series of interviews.Results:Parent-infant separation during infant and/or maternity care is very common(42/45 units,93%),despite the implementation of family integrated care(FICare)practices,including parent participation in medical rounds(17/45,38%),structured education sessions for parents(16/45,36%)and structured training for healthcare professionals(22/45,49%).NICU professionals encountered four main themes with facilitators and barriers for parent-infant closeness on and between the hospital,unit,staff,and family level:Culture(jointly held characteristics,values,thinking and behaviors about parental presence and participation in the unit),Collaboration(the act of working together between and within different levels),Capacities(resources and policies),andCoaching(education to acquire and transfer knowledge and skills).Interpretation:Implementing parent-infant closeness in the NICU is still challenging for healthcare professionals.Further optimization in neonatal care towards zero-separation and parent-infant closeness can be achieved by enforcing the’’four Cs for Closeness’:Culture,Collaboration,Capacities,andCoaching.