Parent Preferences for Motor Development Education in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

In Brief Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine parents’ preferred method of receiving education on motor development of infants born preterm. Methods: This study was conducted through a pair of focus groups in which parents evaluated different educational formats and provided feedback on the clarity of the parent education intervention. Results: Parents reported that they would prefer to learn about their infant’s motor development with a combination of observation, discussion, and written material. After the parent education intervention, parents of infants born preterm were able to describe the ways they would play with their infant and answered more questions correctly on a postintervention test. Conclusions: Parents of infants who were born preterm would benefit from education using multiple approaches. The parent education intervention developed in this study is clear and well understood by parents. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of this intervention. Parents of infants born preterm indicated that they would prefer to learn about their infant's motor development with a combination of observation, discussion, and written material. The authors also report that following an educational program parents were able to describe how they would play with their infant and answer more questions correctly on a post-test.