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Family support system in newborn medicine: does it work? Follow-up study of infants at risk
Insights
A family support system (FSS) for neonatal intensive care unit graduates reduced hospital readmissions and emergency room visits in the second year post-discharge, easing parental anxiety and improving healthcare utilization.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Intensive Care
- Pediatric Psychology
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Parental anxiety following neonatal intensive care is linked to healthcare misuse.
- Psychosocial sequelae can arise from infant illness in the neonatal period.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a family support system (FSS) in mitigating psychosocial issues.
- To assess the impact of FSS on healthcare utilization in infants after neonatal intensive care.
Main Methods:
- A quasi-experimental design compared healthcare utilization before and after FSS implementation.
- Study included 80 control patients and 90 patients receiving FSS support.
- Emergency room visits and inpatient readmissions were tracked for two years post-discharge.
Main Results:
- No difference in emergency service use during the first year post-discharge.
- Second-year emergency room visits were halved in the FSS group compared to controls.
- Readmission rates were significantly lower in the FSS group (less than one-third vs. half).
- Total inpatient days were reduced by an average of 6 days per patient in the FSS group.
Conclusions:
- The family support system (FSS) appears effective in reducing healthcare utilization.
- FSS may mitigate psychosocial sequelae associated with neonatal intensive care.
- Support systems can improve long-term outcomes for infants and families post-NICU.
Abstract:
Acute illness in early childhood generates chronic anxiety in parents, which may manifest itself in part by inappropriate use of health care. To minimize this and the development of other psychosocial sequelae associated with neonatal illness, a family support system (FSS) was developed and implemented in a neonatal intensive care unit. The effectiveness of the FSS was assessed by the evaluation of emergency room and inpatient hospital service utilization in 80 patients born before, and 90 patients born after the institution of the program. At the outset, the groups had similar medical and social characteristics. There was no difference between the two groups in the utilization of emergency services in the first year after discharge. However, during the second year the control group used the emergency room twice as often as the study group did (P less than 0.025). During the first 2 years, half of the control group was readmitted, compared with less than a third of the study group (P less than 0.005). Overall, after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit the control group spent an average of 9 days per patient in hospital, compared with a mean of 3 days per patient in the study group (P less than 0.025). It appears, therefore, that the FSS may be an effective way to reduce some of the psychosocial sequelae of illness in newborn infants requiring intensive care.