Sensory Optimization of the Hospital Environment

Description

The long-term goal of this project is to improve the health and well-being of preterm infants and their parents. Although there is evidence to support positive multisensory interventions in the NICU, these interventions are often applied in an inconsistent manner, reducing their benefit. Through a rigorous and scientific process, we have developed a structured multisensory intervention program, titled Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE), which includes specific doses and targeted timing of evidence-based interventions such as massage, auditory exposure, rocking, holding, and skin-to-skin care. The interventions are based on the infant's developmental stage and are adapted based on the infant's medical status and behavioral cues. The multisensory interventions are designed to be conducted during each day of NICU hospitalization by the parents, who are educated and supported to provide them. The proposed work aims to determine the effect of multisensory interventions on parent mental health, parent-child interaction, brain activity (amplitude integrated electroencephalography), and infant developmental outcomes through age 2 years, with specific attention to language outcome.

Conditions

Preterm, Parent-Child Relations, Parents, Development, Infant, Sensory Integration Dysfunction

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

The long-term goal of this project is to improve the health and well-being of preterm infants and their parents. Although there is evidence to support positive multisensory interventions in the NICU, these interventions are often applied in an inconsistent manner, reducing their benefit. Through a rigorous and scientific process, we have developed a structured multisensory intervention program, titled Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE), which includes specific doses and targeted timing of evidence-based interventions such as massage, auditory exposure, rocking, holding, and skin-to-skin care. The interventions are based on the infant's developmental stage and are adapted based on the infant's medical status and behavioral cues. The multisensory interventions are designed to be conducted during each day of NICU hospitalization by the parents, who are educated and supported to provide them. The proposed work aims to determine the effect of multisensory interventions on parent mental health, parent-child interaction, brain activity (amplitude integrated electroencephalography), and infant developmental outcomes through age 2 years, with specific attention to language outcome.

Multisensory Interventions to Improve Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Sensory Optimization of the Hospital Environment

Condition
Preterm
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Saint Louis

Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, 63104

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * ≤ 32 weeks estimated gestational age (EGA)
  • * recruited within the first week of life
  • * \> 32 weeks EGA at birth
  • * \>7 days old
  • * become wards of the state
  • * have a suspected or confirmed congenital anomaly
  • * face a high immediate threat of death, per the opinion of the attending physician.

Ages Eligible for Study

1 Day to 7 Days

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

University of Southern California,

Roberta Pineda, PhD OTR/L, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, University of Southern California

Amit Mathur, MD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, St. Louis University

Study Record Dates

2027-08-31