Ansari, N.S.; Franck, L.S.; Tomlinson, C.; Colucci, A.; O’Brien, K. A Pilot Study of Family-Integrated Care (FICare) in Critically Ill Preterm and Term Infants in the NICU: FICare Plus. Children2023, 10, 1337.
Ansari, N.S.; Franck, L.S.; Tomlinson, C.; Colucci, A.; O’Brien, K. A Pilot Study of Family-Integrated Care (FICare) in Critically Ill Preterm and Term Infants in the NICU: FICare Plus. Children 2023, 10, 1337.
Ansari, N.S.; Franck, L.S.; Tomlinson, C.; Colucci, A.; O’Brien, K. A Pilot Study of Family-Integrated Care (FICare) in Critically Ill Preterm and Term Infants in the NICU: FICare Plus. Children2023, 10, 1337.
Ansari, N.S.; Franck, L.S.; Tomlinson, C.; Colucci, A.; O’Brien, K. A Pilot Study of Family-Integrated Care (FICare) in Critically Ill Preterm and Term Infants in the NICU: FICare Plus. Children 2023, 10, 1337.
Abstract
Family Integrated Care (FICare) is associated with improved developmental outcomes and decreased parental mental health risks in stable preterm infants. However, less is known about its application in critically ill infants who are at greater risk for adverse outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the safety and feasibility of implementation of FICare in critically ill infants in the first few weeks of life. In this prospective cohort study, 41 critically ill infants were enrolled: 17 in observational group receiving standard care (SC)and 24 in the FICare Plus group. Resources were developed for staff and parents to support earlier engagement in infant care. Outcomes were assessed using standardized questionnaires. The t-test or Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test were used to compare continuous variables, while Chi-square or Fisher exact test were used for categorical variables, respectively. Baseline maternal and infant characteristics were similar in both groups. The tools and procedures developed for FICare Plus successfully supported greater engagement in the care of their infant with no increase in adverse events and no increase in parent stress. Preliminary measures of infant efficacy were similar in both groups. Total anxiety scores were high among all parents at enrolment {83.1 (67-94) vs 77.3 (66-86); p-value 0.4}. However, the scores prior to discharge were lower in FICare Plus group {78 (71-90) vs 63 (52-74.5); p-value 0.02}. This pilot study showed that it is feasible and safe to implement family integrated care in critically ill infants.
Keywords
Family integrated care; critically ill neonates; safety; feasibility
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
