Randomized controlled trial on effectiveness of mHealth (mobile/smartphone) based Preterm Home Care Program on developmental outcomes of preterms: Study protocol

Abstract

Aim To describe a randomized controlled trial protocol designed to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile health based Preterm Home Care Program (mHealthPHCP) known as “NeoRaksha” mobile health application in improving parent‐infant‐interaction, growth and development of preterms. Design A prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial. The protocol is approved and funded by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India on 2 August 2016. Methods A total of 300 preterm‐mother dyads admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital will be recruited and randomized to intervention and control group. The intervention group would receive mobile health based Preterm Home Care Program and the control group would receive standard preterm care. Intervention group will be followed up at home by community health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activist who will be trained in using the NeoRaksha mobile health application. Preterms outcomes will be assessed during follow‐up at hospital. Discussion Supporting continuity of preterm care is vital as parents and preterms experience transition from Neonatal Intensive Care unit to their home. Empowering mothers and community health workers by integrating mobile technology into health care can help promote healthy preterms, enhance development outcomes and follow‐up, which in turn can reduce the mortalities, morbidities, and disabilities associated with prematurity. Impact The results of this study could open up new horizons in integrating hospital and home based preterm care through technology, which paves way to scale up the model across the countries.

Interactive behaviors between mothers and their prematurely born infants in the face-to-face Still-Face Paradigm

“…Correlations between maternal and infant interactive behaviors have been observed, and in some cases, such as the presence of intrusive behaviors and the relationship with noninteractive or interacting negative behaviors suggest that interventions with mothers could improve the relationship between the dyad, making mothers more sensitive to their infant's needs. Consequently, preventive approaches and humanized attention to the newborn, such as the Kangaroo Mother Method, interventions performed during the hospitalization of the infant and that accompany the transition from hospital to home can help support the infant's self-regulation from birth, favor the relationship between mother and child, and also act as facilitators of positive interaction routes (Beebe et al, 2018;Nayak et al, 2019;Vonderheid et al, 2016). The results obtained by the study are associated with a body of knowledge that contributes to the practices supported by empirical evidence with families of preterm infants, in order to benefit the mother-infant relationship and the infant's developmental processes.…”

Development of a post discharge telecare program for premature infants in Covid 19 era: Protocol for a mixed methods study

“…The development and implementation of a telecare program for premature infants after their discharge is one of the challenges needed to improve premature infants’ health. [ 24 ] A telecare program can be a supportive program that can prevent possible complications in the premature infant after discharge. This would be a unique experience introduced through a telecare service in Iran, which can create specific conditions for health policymakers.…”

Outcome’s Classification in Mobile Applications Tailored to Parents of Premature Infants: A Systematic Review

“…Low birth weight is one of the most important indicators of community health and one of the main causes of infant mortality ( 1 , 2 ). Preterm refer to the neonates who are born before 37 complete weeks of pregnancy and due to the low birth weight, as well as the complications associated with preterm birth, newborns with these conditions are considered high-risk ( 3 ). About 120 million babies are born worldwide each year, about 25 millions of whom are underweight at birth, and the proportion is about 50 percent in some parts of Asia ( 2 , 4 ).…”