PADDINGToN Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Parent Co-designed Drug Information for Parents and Guardians taking Neonates Home
IRAS ID
294675
Contact name
Louise Bracken
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Over 100,000 babies are cared for in neonatal units in the UK and Ireland annually, either because they have been born prematurely, or born full term but require supportive care: this figure represents 1 in 7 babies born in the UK and Ireland each year. Premature neonates are often prescribed medications which require small volumes to be administered. Current practice on most neonatal units in the UK and Ireland is for nursing staff to give medicines. There have been recent moves towards parents/carers giving medicines in hospital to prepare them to give medicines to their baby at home. However, in many hospitals they are trained how to measure doses and administer medications only immediately prior to discharge. This can cause high levels of anxiety and concern for parents/carers as they worry about making a mistake measuring doses.
The aim of this project is to work with parents/carers to co-design resources aimed at improving medication safety for those giving medications to neonates in the home environment. Staff on neonatal units including: nurses, ANNPs, doctors, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and parents/carers groups both in the UK and Ireland will be sent an electronic survey to identify resources currently available for parents/carers. Engagement with individual parents/carers of premature babies from five hospitals will be conducted through on-line or face to face focus groups to establish the problems or issues related to medicines, their relative importance to parents and carers and what types of information and educational resources or interventions they think would be helpful. These parents/carers will be invited to help design new targeted medicine support resources and then, once the resources have been produced, a separate group of parents will be asked to provide feedback on these resources in the home setting.
Lay Summary of Results:
The PADDINGToN study developed questionnaires, ran small group and individual interviews and co-designed information resources for giving medicines at home which can be used by any parent/carer leaving a UK/Irish neonatal unit. The co-designed resources are paper-based and accessible on-line and contain generic information about giving medicines, measuring doses, specific information about commonly prescribed neonatal medicines, links to other resources available such as Medicines for Children (MfC) website, a medicines administration record and frequently asked questions (FAQs). There is also a pack available for neonatal units which can be adapted for any baby, any family and any neonatal setting.REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0351
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jul 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion