Children's National Health System Studies Impact of Parent Navigators for Discharged NICU Patients

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Karen Fratantoni, MD, MPH,  leads the Children's National Health System research team that has received a $2 million, three-year contract from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study how parent navigators can help families and children with fragile medical conditions successfully manage the transition from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to the home.

Dr. Fratantoni will assess the impact of Children's Parent Navigator Program in the NICU, that would expand the role of the existing Parent Navigator Program in Children's Diana L. and Stephen A. Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health. The Goldberg Center currently provides a medical home to children with complex special healthcare needs. No previous studies have evaluated the effects of long-term peer support on the ability of families transitioning from the NICU to achieve self-efficacy and infant health. 

"We believe NICU graduates and their caregivers would benefit from peer-to-peer support provided by parent navigators after discharge," says Dr. Fratantoni. "We anticipate that this simple intervention will increase self-efficacy and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression in caregivers, in turn resulting in improved health outcomes for the infant."

Dr. Fratantoni and her team at Children's National were selected from 490 applications by PCORI, an independent, non-profit organization that funds research aimed at providing patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with evidence-based information needed to make better informed healthcare decisions.

The Patient Navigator Program at Children's National was founded by Cara Biddle, MD, MPH, a Children's National pediatrician, who launched the program in 2009. The program employs parents of children with special healthcare needs to help families in similar situations navigate through the healthcare system. 

More than 400,000 newborns in the U.S. require neonatal intensive care for a host of issues, including prematurity, congenital anomalies, or complex medical conditions.

"Children who face these chronic conditions are growing in number and require complicated medical services that can be intimidating for many new parents. They can be served greatly by parent navigators," says Dr. Fratantoni.  "We need to see how effective this intervention can be."

"This project was selected for PCORI funding not only for its scientific merit and commitment to engaging patients and other stakeholders, but also for its potential to fill an important gap in our healthcare knowledge, "says PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH.

About Children's National Health System

Children's National Health System, based in Washington, DC, has been serving the nation's children since 1870. Children's National's hospital is Magnet® designated, and is consistently ranked among the top pediatric hospitals by U.S.News & World Report. Home to the Children's Research Institute and the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, Children's National is one of the nation's top NIH-funded pediatric institutions. With a community-based pediatric network, eight regional outpatient centers, an ambulatory surgery center, two emergency rooms, an acute care hospital, and collaborations throughout the region, Children's National is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as an advocate for all children. For more information, visit ChildrensNational.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Children's National Health System

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