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Small Wins for Small Babies: Celebrating Weekly Successes Helps Parents Cope With the NICU Hospitalisation
Béatrice Boutillier1,2,3, Fanny Labelle2, Emilie Lancastre2
1Unité D'éthique Clinique et Organisationnelle, Centre de Recherche, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Canada.
Aim:
To describe the implementation and evaluation of an intervention to celebrate babies' weekly achievements in the neonatal unit (prolonged hospitalisations) and examine parental perspectives.
Methods:
In a feasibility study, 92 parents reported the lack of optimism in the NICU, that clinicians often focused on what was going wrong; they recommended weekly celebration of accomplishments. The formats recommended were both physical (certificate given to parents) and virtual (text message). Inclusion criteria were baby > 1 week of life, likely survival, predicted hospitalisation > 1 month and parental consent. Parental perspectives were investigated using mixed methods with a questionnaire after discharge.
Results:
The parents of 93 babies received weekly certificates (100% participation). The length of stay was on average 104 days, for a total of 1182 certificates/text messages received. 45% answered the questionnaire. The overall evaluation of parents was 9.1 of10; 88% reported it helped them cope with hospitalisation. Parental answers to open-ended questions were all positive and invoked gratitude, empowerment, patience and hope.
Conclusion:
Weekly text messages and certificates celebrating babies' accomplishments were appreciated and helped parents cope. It is possible to instil healthy optimism in the NICU.
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