Digital Program Supporting Parents to Improve Neurodevelopment in Very Preterm Infants Born Before 32 Weeks or Under 1500g

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating a new e-health program designed to improve the neurodevelopment of very preterm infants, born before 32 weeks or with low birth weight, by supporting parents in responsive caregiving. The study aims to see if this program, called INSPIRE, can enhance cognitive, motor, feeding, language, and socio-emotional development up to 2 years of age. Additional goals include assessing parental stress, emotional availability, health inequalities, and gender differences. This trial is conducted by Ume University with a multi-professional team and builds on a pilot study involving nine families. The intervention group will receive the INSPIRE program, which consists of 18 sessions delivered digitally over two years, starting at hospital discharge. This program focuses on strengthening parent-child interactions and empowering parents with responsive parenting skills. Families in the control group will receive standard care without the INSPIRE intervention. The study randomly assigns families to either group and follows up with assessments over time. Participants will be involved from discharge through at least 2 years corrected age, with evaluations including neurodevelopmental tests such as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 24 months. Additional assessments cover motor skills, language, feeding, emotional availability, parental stress, and mental health using various standardized tools at multiple time points up to 5.5 years of age. Researchers will monitor child development, parent well-being, and other outcomes to understand the interventions impact and safety over the study period.

Intervention for Neurodevelopmental Support in Preterm Infants Using Responsive Parenting and E-health