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Published on: January 12, 2018
Participatory Action Research in the Field of Neonatal Intensive Care: Developing an Intervention to Meet the
Betty Noergaard1, Helle Johannessen2, Jesper Fenger-Gron3
1Department of Paediatrics, Lillebaelt Hospital; Institute of Regional Health Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark.
Insights
Participatory action research (PAR) improved neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) for fathers. This approach involved fathers, mothers, and staff, creating a more supportive and father-friendly NICU environment.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Improvement
- Family-Centered Care
- Qualitative Research Methods
Background:
- Fathers in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) often feel uncertain and lack support.
- Existing NICU care primarily focuses on infants and mothers, neglecting fathers' needs.
- There is an unmet need for tailored support and guidance for fathers in NICU settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe and discuss participatory action research (PAR) as a method to enhance NICU services for fathers.
- To develop a father-friendly NICU that addresses the needs of both fathers and mothers.
- To involve fathers, mothers, healthcare professionals, and managers in improving NICU care.
Main Methods:
- Participatory action research (PAR) was conducted from August 2011 to July 2013.
- Data collection included participant observations, semi-structured and multi-sequential interviews, workshops, focus groups, group discussions, and a seminar.
- The study utilized Herr and Anderson's criteria for validity: process, democratic, and catalytic validity.
Main Results:
- Twelve fathers, 11 mothers, and 48 health professionals and managers actively participated in the PAR process.
- The collaborative effort facilitated the development of a father-friendly NICU concept.
- Engaged participants drove viable and constructive local changes within the NICU.
Conclusions:
- PAR effectively involves stakeholders throughout the entire process, ensuring their engagement.
- This involvement leads to the creation of feasible and sustainable changes in healthcare settings.
- The study contributes new knowledge on utilizing PAR to improve support for fathers in NICUs.
Background:
In neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) health care professionals typically give most of their attention to the infants and the mothers while many fathers feel uncertain and have an unmet need for support and guidance. This paper describes and discusses participatory action research (PAR) as a method to improve NICUs' service for fathers. Our goal is to develop a father-friendly NICU where both the needs of fathers and mothers are met using an approach based on PAR that involves fathers, mothers, interdisciplinary healthcare professionals, and managers.
Design And Methods:
This PAR process was carried out from August 2011 to July 2013 and included participant observations, semi-structured interviews, multi sequential interviews, workshops, focus groups, group discussion, and a seminar. The theoretical framework of validity described by Herr and Anderson's three criteria; process-, democratic-, and catalytic validity were used to discuss this PAR.
Results:
Twelve fathers, 11 mothers, 48 health professionals and managers participated in the PAR process. The collaboration ensured the engagement for viable and constructive local changes to be used in designing the concept of the father friendly NICU.
Conclusions:
This paper contributed new knowledge of how PAR can be used to ensure that participants engaged in the field are involved in the entire process; consequently, this will ensure that the changes are feasible and sustainable.
