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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
19:15
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
How can we evaluate developmental care practices prior to their implementation in a neonatal intensive care unit?
Véronique Pierrat1, Nathalie Goubet, Karen Peifer
1NICU, Jeanne de Flandres Hospital, Lille, France.
Early Human Development
|April 17, 2007
Summary
Developmental care, like the Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP), supports preterm infant neurobehavioral development. Further research using qualitative methods and benchmarking is needed to fully evaluate its effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Developmental care aims to optimize neurobehavioral development in preterm infants.
- The Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) offers tailored, family-centered care strategies.
- There is a need for robust scientific evaluation of developmental care interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the importance of evaluating developmental care for preterm infants.
- To discuss the limitations of traditional research methods for assessing developmental care.
- To propose alternative research methodologies for future studies.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on developmental care and its evaluation.
- Discussion of the strengths and limitations of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in this context.
- Exploration of qualitative research and benchmarking as complementary methods.
Main Results:
- Randomized controlled trials, while valuable, have inherent limitations in studying the nuances of developmental care.
- Individualized and family-oriented approaches, such as NIDCAP, are central to developmental care.
- The complexity of developmental care necessitates diverse evaluation approaches.
Conclusions:
- Scientific evaluation of developmental care is crucial for optimizing preterm infant outcomes.
- Qualitative research and benchmarking offer promising avenues for a more comprehensive understanding of developmental care.
- Integrating various research methods will advance the field of neonatal developmental care.
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