Impact of admission to the neonatal unit on family functioning
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact on the family when an infant is admitted to the neonatal unit
IRAS ID
141487
Contact name
Kieth Brennan
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The whole family, parents and siblings, are affected when a newborn baby is admitted to the neonatal unit (NU). Therefore it is important that all the family members’ needs are considered to support their bonding and future family relationships. However, the research to date focuses solely on the parents and the baby but does not consider the needs of the baby’s siblings and the effect of the admission on them nor the long term impact on the family as a whole.
This study aims to consider the impact of the admission of a baby to the NU on the whole family, and to consider what types of interventions can assist them depending on the issues that emerge.
The study will be carried out in 3 stages;
Stage 1: A literature review, investigating interventions used to support siblings of children in hospital or with long term health care needs. The findings will identify ideas that have been used with these children that may be transferrable to the neonatal unit. This will run concurrently with stage 2
Stage 2 will consist of semi-structured interviews with parents and siblings whilst the infant is on NU and again 4-6 weeks after discharge. The interviews will explore how their family has been affected by the admission to the NU and how family members have coped with it. The findings will inform stage 3.
Stage 3 consists of three separate focus groups of i) parents ii) siblings and iii) neonatal staff to discuss findings from stages 1 and 2. The focus groups will discuss the type of intervention(s) that could be useful in supporting the whole family in the NU. The views expressed will then be discussed in a combined parent and staff focus group to discuss the feasibility of integrating the most relevant intervention, into practice.REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/2192
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion