6381 Cost-effective, bespoke, neonatal unit decorations using ex-preterm donated artwork

Objectives Parenting a baby on the neonatal unit can have long-term impact on physical and mental health.¹ The FICare framework from BAPM requires neonatal units to provide psychological support.² ³ Wall decoration are one of the strategies employed by many units to make an otherwise sterile environment warmer and more inviting. The beneficial effect environment has on patient mental and physical wellbeing and recovery is well recognised.⁴ Practically, this often involves colourful wall stickers or photographic art of natural phenomena. The cost of decorating an entire unit is significant, reaching thousands of pounds. To be cost-effective, the decorations are meant to last for many years. While undeniably beautiful, over time they fade into the background for parents whose babies spend months on the unit, and permanent healthcare staff. This led to the search for alternative, more cost-effective, bespoke decorations that could be updated on a semi-regular basis. Methods Most units display updates sent in by parents of ex-patients. This provides psychological support for parents of inpatients, through reading about their similar journeys, discharge, and how they are growing older. Based on similar principles, I led a project in which we asked parents (in follow-up clinics and via the unit's social media parent group) of ex-patients to send in their artwork. In the project pilot, drawings were displayed in non-clinical areas (outside of the intensive care, high dependency, and special care rooms, and in the parents' and doctors' rooms) [figure 1, 2]. The neonatal outreach nurse in charge of the online parent group volunteered to keep the donated artwork and change it on a monthly basis. Results Feedback from parents and staff has been positive. For example, the parents of an 11 day old 27 weeker, recovering after severe GBS sepsis, thought it was a 'nice' project. They found the drawings 'cute', and would like to bring in drawings when their baby hopefully goes home and is older. A Band 7 nurse of 27 years' experience said it was 'quite comforting' for parents to see what other children who've been on the unit have done after going home, and enjoyed looking at the 'funny' pictures. Moving forward, we plan to display the artwork in clinical areas. Conclusion In conclusion, this is a cost effective method for decorating neonatal units, allowing for regular renewal, and providing psychological support to parents and healthcare staff. References Malouf R, Harrison S, Burton HAL, Gale C, Stein A, Franck LS, et al. Prevalence of anxiety and post-traumatic stress (PTS) among the parents of babies admitted to neonatal units: A systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine 2022;43:101233. British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM). Family integrated care: a framework for practice 2021. Ding X, Zhu L, Zhang R, Wang L, Wang TT, Latour JM. Effects of family-centred care interventions on preterm infants and parents in neonatal intensive care units: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Aust Crit Care 2019;32(1):63–75. Devlin AS, Arneill AB. Health care environments and patient outcomes: a review of the literature. Environment and Behavior. 2003;35(5):665–94.