Family Integrated Care in Uganda: a feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Global health
• Family-centered care

Background:

• Family Integrated Care (FIC) is a model that involves parents in their infant's care.
• Adapting FIC to low-income countries presents unique challenges and opportunities.
• The feasibility of FIC in a Ugandan Special Care Nursery was previously unevaluated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of adapting Family Integrated Care (FIC) for a neonatal hospital unit in Uganda.
• To evaluate maternal proficiency and task completion within the adapted FIC program (UFICare).
• To explore the impact of UFICare on maternal stress, discharge readiness, and post-discharge healthcare seeking.

Main Methods:

• A single-centre, pre/post-pilot study was conducted in a Ugandan Special Care Nursery.
• The adapted Family Integrated Care program (UFICare) involved mothers in daily infant weighing, twice-daily assessment of danger signs, and feed tracking.
• Feasibility was measured by maternal task proficiency and completion rates; secondary outcomes included maternal stress, discharge readiness, and healthcare seeking.

Main Results:

• Fifty-three mother-infant dyads were in the baseline group and 51 in the UFICare group.
• Mothers demonstrated high proficiency in tasks within 2-4 days of training.
• UFICare mothers significantly increased infant weighing frequency (71% vs 29%, p<0.001) and reported higher discharge readiness scores (7.9 vs 6.8, p<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Ugandan mothers can effectively collaborate in the medical care of their hospitalized infants.
• The UFICare program demonstrates feasibility and positively impacts maternal preparedness for infant discharge.
• Family Integrated Care is a viable model for enhancing neonatal care in resource-limited settings.