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  • Quality Improvement Article
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Human-centered design strategies in family and staff preparation for neonatal care

Abstract

Objective

This paper describes human-centered design strategies used to develop solutions for neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients, families, and staff in preparation for transition from an open bay (OB) NICU to a single-family room (SFR) NICU.

Human-centered design

Through a series of user group meetings, an interdisciplinary team of NICU families, administrators, providers, nurses, and other care team members (CTMs) collaborated with design professionals to create and carry out their vision for the new NICU. This process, which spanned the design, construction, and transition planning phases of the project, enabled stakeholders at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina (USA) to seek solutions for integrating patient and family-centered care into the fabric of its new facility and to redesign the care experience.

Result

From this work, new opportunities for family and staff engagement emerged.

Conclusions

Continuous end-user involvement led to targeted preparation for neonatal care.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the following groups and individuals for their remarkable design work and contributions to patient and family-centered care. Design, Construction, Operational and Transition Leadership Team: Gopiganth OmRaju, Carmen Dooley, Carolyn Donohue, Joseph Nowicki, Regina Fraiya; Patient and Family-Centered Care; family volunteers: Kelly Loyd, Shawnda Sallee, Carolyn McChesney; Care Team Workshop participants: Charlotte Edwards, Sarah Meany, Allison Broomall, Erin Courtney, Megan Iannuzzi, Lesley Weick, Marshall McFadden, Sonya Floyd; Strategic Design and Innovation: Sarah Bacik, David Redden; the entire MUSC Health NICU care team, and Architects Perkins + Will and Poltronieri Tang and Associates.

Funding

This article is published as part of a supplement sponsored by Philips.

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Correspondence to Tammy S. Thompson.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics

No NICU patients were directly involved in this project. All parents (of NICU patients) involved consented to participation.

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Thompson, T.S., White, K., Ross, J.R. et al. Human-centered design strategies in family and staff preparation for neonatal care. J Perinatol 40 (Suppl 1), 47–53 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0752-8

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