Home Tips: hiccups and bumps you might encounter in your first few weeks at home

Research has shown that Neonatal Wards can be intimidating for the parent(s), which hampers the way parent(s) learn to care for their child. This creates a problem which is manifest in the process of discharging the child to go home with less-than-conf ident parent(s).
To inform the Home Tips Pocketbook, a theory-informed experience-based co-design process engaged staff and parents with the aim of identifing ways to break down the power-imbalance on the ward, to celebrate and empower parent(s)/family over/alongside the professional caregivers, and to add support for families at the critical time when they first take their child home.
Content was co-developed through a series of workshops and iterative-reviews with hospital staff drawn from 9 disciplinary specialisms as well as testing with parents. Phrasing, presentation and modality of information is guided by behavioural change theory.
A pilot of the Home Tips Pocketbook with 15-families, informed tailoring/finalisation of the resources. Additional intervention-revisions were implemented in 2024 based on feedback from the pilot and plans to produce and distribute at scale. (from Sep24) The Home Tips pocketbook is now provided to all Newcastle Neonatal Service families on the Transitional Care Ward benefitting around 150-families each year.