Clinical trial NCT04922242: Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) in the NICU
Official title: Assessing the Efficacy and Validity of the Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) in the NICU
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Premature Birth
Obstetric Labor, Premature
Keywords: nursing education
emotional connection
Lead sponsor: Columbia University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Einhorn Collaborative
First posted: 2021-06-10
Enrollment: 193
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Cross-sectional model
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to assess knowledge about emotional connection, attitude about relational health, and efficacy of Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) training in the NICU. The investigators seek to discern if through this didactic training, frontline NICU clinicians can be taught to reliably use the WECS to rate parent-child relational health. Additionally, the investigators seek to learn if there is construct and theoretical validity of the hospitalized infant preterm WECS by correlating WECS scores to physiological, behavioral and mental health markers for parent and infant.

Detailed description: The Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) is an investigational developmental screening tool that was developed to rate the quality of the emotional connection that formed between mother and child. When administered at 4 months of age, the scale has predictive value in determining which children will show higher risk for developmental problems at 18 months of age. The scale is administered in 2-3 minutes by observing a brief interaction between mother and child and requires the rater to critically assess 4 domains of emotional connection.

The present study will introduce an educational module for teaching NICU clinicians to critically observe mother-child interactions through use of a standardized didactic experience and structured use of the brief clinical screening tool, the WECS, and the theories around nurturing and emotional connection. In one module training session, participants will view a pre-recorded webinar on the WECS developed by the Nurture Science Program at Columbia University. During the second part of the training, participants will view and rate a set of pre-recorded parent-child interactions using the WECS. Clinicians will complete a survey and participate in a focus group discussion about their experiences with the training process and utility of the WECS in clinical practice. Determining if the WECS can be used easily and reliably by NICU clinicians will help to create new strategies that better meet the needs of all professionals involved in NICU care, as well as the families they serve.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Population 1: Consenting Interdisciplinary Professional Clinical Staff who are employed to work in the NICU as a:

  * Nurse
  * Therapist
  * Social worker
  * Physician
* Population 2: Consenting parents and infants whose parents give consent by guardianship and whose physicians approve inclusion in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Both populations: Refusal to consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: Acceptance rate of NICU WECS and WECS Training: Focus Group
timeFrame: Up to 6 months
measure: Acceptance rate of NICU WECS and WECS Training: Staff Survey
timeFrame: Up to 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Intra-Class Correlations of Welch Emotional Connection Screen (WECS) NICU Scores
timeFrame: Up to 6 months
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Score
timeFrame: Near discharge (up to 40 weeks)
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with STAI Score
timeFrame: Near discharge (up to 40 weeks)
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with CES-D
timeFrame: Near discharge (up to 40 weeks)
measure: Parent Stressor Scale (PSS): Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
timeFrame: Near discharge (up to 40 weeks)
Other outcomes:
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with LOS
timeFrame: Up to 1 year
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with Days on Respiratory Support
timeFrame: Up to 1 year
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with Days to Full Feeds
timeFrame: Up to one year
measure: Correlation of WECS scores with Breastfeeding Data
timeFrame: Up to 1 year
Locations:
city: Ridgewood
country: United States
facility: The Valley Hospital
state: New Jersey
Study officials:
affiliation: Professor of Psychiatry
name: Martha G. Welch, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: