About Us – Light
Research and Development
Human-centered mHealth research and design
Our team continuously evaluates the extent to which NICU2HOME features improve discharge preparedness and mental health outcomes.
Meet the team
From software developers to developmental specialists - the NICU2HOME smartphone app is influenced by them all.
Project Aims
Easy Communication
Provide a clinical communication platform for health care providers and parents
Discharge Readiness
Improve NICU discharge readiness by instilling parenting confidence through education
Togetherness
Provide emotional support and a sense of community
Access
Increase access to health care through cost-effective digital networks
Diversity & Inclusivity
Cater to and represent a diverse set of family dynamics and ethnic identities
Mental Health
Reduce all parents' feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression
Prior Research Findings
The NICU2HOME team works to combat the stress associated with the NICU experience and infant prematurity
NICU parents note pervasive feelings of uncertainty as they navigate experiences through the NICU stay and transition home (Garfield, Lee, & Kim, 2014)
Fathers experience increased physiological stress during the transition from the NICU to home period (Garfield, Simon, Rutsohn, & Lee, 2018)
Depression among NICU parents remains elevated during infants’ transition from the NICU to home. Mothers’s odds of positive depressions screenings decrease during this period while fathers experience little improvement (Garfield et al., 2021).
The American Academy of Pediatrics underscores the impact of parental mental health on early and late childhood developmental outcomes (Rafferty, Mattson, Earls, & Yogman, 2019)
The field of pediatrics has been slow to adopt the importance of mothers and fathers as co-parents in family-centered care (Yogman & Garfield, 2016).
Current Research Aims
Evaluate Efficacy
Our team believes that digital health interventions shouldn’t just look good. They should do good. We evaluate the ability of our mobile health intervention to support parents and improve core outcomes such as parental mental health.
Fatherhood Advocacy
Supporting families takes a village. The NICU2HOME team works to be inclusive of all family structures and contribute to the small but growing pool of literature on fatherhood.
Hospital Policy
We know the NICU and the transition home can be stressful. Out team works hard to develop recommendations to improve hospital policy in support of parents.
Public Health
The NICU has a tremendous ability to impact long-term health outcomes. Our team collaborates with public and private intuitions to combat notable public health concerns (e.g., maternal mortality, postpartum depression).
With much thanks to our sponsors:
Year: 2019
Mobile Application: NICU2HOME+
Platforms: iOS, Android
