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Purpose

Empathy is defined as sensitivity to the needs of others.Maternal empathy, or a mother's sensitivity to the needs of her child, is critical for healthy child development ,Small Moments, Big Impact: Supporting Maternal Empathy by Adding Media to Child Health Services (SMBI) will develop and pilot a media-based pediatric primary care intervention that aims to answer two Big Questions: 1) Can media sent by pediatricians to mothers from low-income backgrounds promote empathy? 2) Is there a feasible and scalable approach? If successful, SMBI will result in: 1) increased maternal empathy; 2) new evidence and knowledge about an effective approach for supporting empathy in mothers from low-income backgrounds; 3) acceptability, feasibility of administering, and therefore potential for scalability through standard pediatric care; 4) increased support of maternal empathy as a core component of pediatric care; and 5) increased support by other stakeholders (including medical professionals, child health care facilities, and funders) to further explore, expand, and ultimately rollout the intervention

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Genders
Female
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Adult mothers with a singleton baby born at term without any significant medical problems - Mothers who plan to obtain pediatric care at BMC - Mothers who are English speaking and reading - Mothers who have a smartphone (data plan will be supplied if needed)

Exclusion Criteria

  • Mothers with substance abuse problems

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Health Services Research
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
SBSI intervention 		Mothers is this arm will download the SMBI intervention app onto their smartphone. They will be shown a video from the app and how to share videos with others. After hospital discharge, mothers will receive a weekly media package (video, associated prompt(s), and activity) via the SMBI for six months.
  • Other: SMBI digital app
    Digital platform on the smartphone for the media package
  • Behavioral: media package
    The SMBI app contains a <1 minute video of a mother and baby or just mother, a reflection question about the video, a few questions about their mood and stress, and some prompts and suggestions on what to do if they have problems.
  • Other: standard newborn and infant care
    Recommended standard pediatric primary care will be provided for infants up to 6 months.
Active Comparator
Infant standard of care 		Mothers in this arm will receive the standard of care for newborn and infants including education and a list of resources.
  • Other: standard newborn and infant care
    Recommended standard pediatric primary care will be provided for infants up to 6 months.

More Details

Status
Completed
Sponsor
Boston Medical Center

Study Contact

Detailed Description

This mixed methods research design will assess whether a digital media-based pediatric primary care intervention can increase empathy in mothers of newborns from low-income backgrounds compared to the current standard of care. During their newborns' stay in the nursery following recruitment, eligible mothers will be assigned to the intervention or comparison group. Mothers in the intervention group will download the SMBI smartphone app onto their phone and be trained by a research assistant (RA) on the functionality of the app. Mothers will be shown a video from the app, and shown how to share videos with others, to respond to prompts, and to rate the video. These activities represent what mothers are asked to do at home throughout the intervention. After departing the hospital, mothers in the intervention group will receive a media package (video, associated prompt/s, and activity) via the SMBI app every week for six months. Mothers will be asked to watch the videos, respond to the prompts, do the activities, and rate the value of videos via the SMBI app. Mothers will be encouraged to share questions and comments with the child's pediatrician and to share the videos with their support network. Mothers in the comparison group will receive the standard of care. Mothers in both groups will be asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of recruitment and at 6 month visit and at the 6 month visit the investigators will also video tape and code a five minute play interaction. In addition, a focus group will be conducted with some mothers in the intervention group. As of April 2020 in compliance with institutional COVID-19 policies all recruitment and interventions are being done without in-person contact.

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.