Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023
Date Accepted: Jan 29, 2024
The Baby Sleep Planner: development and evaluation of a risk assessment and planning tool to prevent sudden and unexpected death in infancy
ABSTRACT
Background:
Sudden and unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) remains a leading cause of post-neonatal infant mortality in the UK. Successful national campaigns have lowered death rates over the past 3 decades, but deaths persist in socio-economically deprived families. The majority of sleep related deaths occur in an environment where safer sleep advice has not been followed suggesting that improvements to support for some families to follow this advice more consistently could save lives.
Objective:
To describe the development and evaluation of a risk assessment and planning tool that aims to improve the uptake of safer sleep advice in families with infants at increased risk of SUDI.
Methods:
A co-design approach was used to develop the prototype interface of a web-based tool with two parts: an individual SUDI risk assessment at birth and a downloadable plan for safety during times of disruption. The advice contained within the tool was concordant with national guidance from the Lullaby Trust, UNICEF and NICE. User testing of the prototype tool was conducted by inviting health visitors, midwives and family nurses to use the tool with families eligible for additional support. Qualitative interviews with health professionals and families allowed for iterative changes to the tool and for insights into its function and influence on parental behaviour.
Results:
Twenty-two health professionals enrolled in the evaluation, of which 20 were interviewed. They reported using the tool with a total of 58 families, and 20 parents gave consent to be interviewed by the research team about their experiences with the tool. Health professionals reported appreciating the functionality of the tool, allowing them to identify at-risk families for further support. They suggested expanding use to include relevance in the antenatal period and having versions available in languages other than English. Parents were positive about the tool, appreciated the trustworthy information and felt it was useful, appropriate and that the plans for specific sleeps would be of benefit to them and other family members.
Conclusions:
Minor refinements to the tool based on these findings have ensured that the tool is now ready for further evaluation in a larger study.
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