Increasing Parent Participation in NICU Care and Preparation for Discharge

My capstone project aimed to understand the current evidence that examines the benefits of NICU parental participation to increase preparedness for discharge and provide educational resources to parents and professionals. The first half of my project entailed a revision of hospital provided material to create a weekly developmental timeline that parents can understand. During the second half, educational materials were collected to address parental concerns including early intervention resources, sensory activities/strategies, and age-appropriate toys, safe sleep, and tummy time. Families can incorporate this information in the NICU and the home environment. The resources were revised into physical handouts to take home and an accessible electronic website. The end goal of this project is to continuously use these resources to increase parent comfortability, preparedness, and knowledge on their journey.