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Published on: January 7, 2020
Reading Aloud with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Unit-Based Program to Enhance Language Enrichment
Carmina Erdei1,2, Perri Klass3,4, Terrie E Inder1,2
1Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Objective:
Early meaningful auditory experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) enhance language outcomes and promote cognitive and social-emotional development.
Methods:
This is a descriptive report sharing our level III NICU experience of building a reading-aloud enrichment program with the goals of enhancing infant neurodevelopment and strengthening early parent-infant relationships.
Results:
We propose a roadmap for program development, outline challenges and possible ways to mitigate them, and highlight opportunities for further research in this area.
Key Points:
· Early auditory experiences enhance language, cognitive, and social-emotional development.. · High-risk infants experience an atypical neurosensory environment while receiving care in the NICU.. · Reading aloud in the NICU enhances language enrichment and supports early foundational relationships.. · We describe our center's experience with building a reading-aloud enrichment program in the NICU..
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