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Transforming a hospital's organizational culture to promote parent-child relationships and child development
Mariel Benjamin1, Carrie Quinn1, Aliza Pressman1
1Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
Insights
A hospital intervention improved staff knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors supporting early child development and parent-child relationships. This initiative fostered a more positive and empowering hospital environment for families.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Public Health
- Organizational Psychology
Background:
- Early caregiving experiences are critical for child brain development.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends a public health approach for early relationship promotion.
- Hospitals are uniquely positioned to support families with young children (0-5 years).
Purpose of the Study:
- To shift hospital culture in maternity and pediatric units towards promoting early relationships and child development.
- To evaluate the impact of a messaging campaign and staff training on staff's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.
- To assess staff empowerment and perceptions of the hospital environment for families.
Main Methods:
- A messaging campaign and staff training intervention was implemented across six pediatric and maternity units.
- Non-physician staff participated in the study.
- Surveys were administered to staff before and after the intervention (356 pre-intervention, 320 post-intervention).
Main Results:
- Significant positive shifts were observed in staff's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to early learning and parent-child relationships.
- 88% of staff reported feeling more empowered in their roles.
- 89% of staff perceived the hospital environment as friendlier for parents and families.
Conclusions:
- A combined messaging and training intervention can effectively foster a supportive culture for early caregiving and child development within hospitals.
- Further research is warranted to determine the intervention's impact on caregivers and children.
- The findings highlight the potential for healthcare settings to promote positive early childhood experiences.
Introduction:
Early caregiving interactions and experiences profoundly shape a child's brain development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently advocated for a public-health approach to promoting safe, stable, nurturing relationships that is "founded on universal primary preventions", including consistent messaging on fostering family resilience, nurturing connections, and positive childhood experiences. Hospitals have unique access to families with children ages 0-5 and therefore play a key role in supporting these early experiences. This project sought to shift the organizational culture of maternity and pediatric units at a hospital towards promoting early relationships and child development through a physical messaging campaign paired with staff training. This study examined whether the messaging campaign and staff training shifted staff's self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.
Methods:
Non-physician staff across six pediatric and maternity units in a large urban hospital participated in the intervention. Staff completed surveys before and after message installation and training.
Results:
Analysis of 356 pre-intervention surveys and 320 post-intervention surveys showed significant changes in staff's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that promote early learning and parent-child relationships. Most staff also reported feeling more empowered in their work (88%) and that the hospital environment had become a friendlier place for parents and families (89%).
Discussion:
A messaging and training intervention can create a culture whereby staff support early caregiving and child development in the hospital setting. Further research is needed to understand whether the intervention impacts caregivers and their children.
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