DEFINE engages families and supports parental wellbeing and participation in their baby’s NICU care via implementation of system improvement processes and robust data collection and analysis. Recent studies demonstrate that optimizing family engagement in the NICU leads to positive outcomes for both infants and their parents, including higher breastfeeding rates, shorter length of hospital stay, improved neurodevelopmental outcomes, and lower stress and anxiety scores for parents.
Given these positive outcomes, the DEFINE program provides a targeted approach to understanding and improving policies and programs in NICUs throughout Colorado to increase parental engagement. Participating hospitals are asked to develop a multidisciplinary team, collect and submit data, review existing practices and policies related to parental NICU involvement, and use structured quality improvement methods to improve specialized care.
To further develop a community of practice, DEFINE participants are also asked to participate in an annual forum that brings together providers, parents, community-based groups, and public health agencies to share progress and ideas, continue learning, and review performance metrics.
