Impact of Implementing Reach Out and Read in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Catherine Caruso101 enrolled

Overview

This is a pre/post quasi-interventional study with two arms. First, a baseline cohort of parent-infant dyads admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were enrolled and surveyed at three timepoints (admission, discharge, and one-month post-discharge) to characterize baseline habits, attitudes, and barriers toward shared reading in the NICU in the absence of a shared reading program. Reach Out and Read (ROR) in the NICU, a shared reading program modified from the national ROR outpatient program to the NICU setting was then implemented. Following program implementation, a subsequent cohort of parent-infant dyads admitted to the NICU were enrolled (the "ROR" cohort) and surveyed at the same three timepoints. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of ROR NICU to promote shared reading in the NICU were evaluated.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

101

Conditions

Neonates or Premature Babies Parent Reading NICU Infants

Eligibility

Sex: ALL

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Parent-infant dyads were recruited with the following criteria: Inclusion Criteria: * New neonatal admission to the NICU at less than or equal to 14 days old * Estimated length of stay 2 weeks or longer * English or Spanish speaking Exclusion Criteria: * Nonviable neonates or those with uncertain viability * Families with discontinuous social situations or parent/infant separation

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Rate of regular reading

Parent-reported frequency of shared reading (days/week) in the last week with "regular reading" defined as at least 3 times per week.

Time frame: Time point 1: baseline. Time point 2: average 6 weeks after baseline. Time point 3: 4 weeks after time point 2

Secondary Outcomes

Proportion of eligible infants who received the intervention

This is a program fidelity measure assessing how many infants admitted to and discharged from the NICU received the intervention (defined as receiving a book paired with education about shared reading)

Time frame: After infant discharge, average of 6 weeks from baseline.

Program acceptability

Survey questions exploring parent experience of the program and an "Acceptability of Intervention Measure" 4-item scaled score (likert scale 1-5) from Weiner et al 2017.

Time frame: Time point 1: baseline. Time point 2: average 6 weeks after baseline. Time point 3: 4 weeks after time point 2

Frequency of intervention per patient (fidelity to the model)

The frequency and timing of when each ROR cohort infant received a book during admission was tracked

Time frame: After infant discharge, average of 6 weeks from baseline