CASE STUDY
An app to support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people with a sibling in the neonatal unit
MIND-BODY INTEGRATION
THEME
UNMET NEED
Having a newborn sibling admitted to the neonatal unit can be a distressing time for a child. Older siblings often feel isolated, scared, and unsure, and it can be difficult for parents to explain what is happening and answer tricky questions.
PROJECT CONCEPT / SOLUTION
Nell and the Neonatal Unit is an app that aims to provide emotional and educational support to children who have a new sibling in the neonatal unit.
For this project, the team has collaborated with parents and their children to create additional educational, age-appropriate support for children, including digital games, animations, and stories, as well as co-developing an additional story arc for the app. Through engaging animated story lines that reflect real-world challenges of the neonatal unit, this app provides helpful information and coping strategies for children that help them understand what their family is going through.
SUPPORT PROVIDED
FUNDING
Our team provided proof of concept funding over a 12 month period.
PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT
Our team provided support and expertise in the planning, recruitment, and facilitation of a workshop with parents and their children.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
One of our project managers was assigned to this project to provide oversight of day-to-day activities and PPIE aspects to ensure key deadlines and deliverables were achieved.
FUNDING
Proof of concept funding for this project was provided by NIHR Children and Young People MedTech Co-operative (NIHR CYP MedTech, now known as the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Paediatrics and Child Health).
STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT
BEFORE SUPPORT
BASIC IDEA
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE VALIDATION
CLINICAL TESTING
REGULATORY APPROVAL
MANUFACTURING
COMMERCIALLY / PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
CURRENT STAGE
BASIC IDEA
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE VALIDATION
CLINICAL TESTING
REGULATORY APPROVAL
MANUFACTURING
COMMERCIALLY / PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
POTENTIAL IMPACT
Nell and the Neonatal Unit provides age-appropriate support to a previously overlooked population of children and young people in the neonatal sphere. By reaching out to neonatal families and actively taking their feedback and ideas on board throughout the project, this app will be able to provide much needed support to CYP and their parents, with similar lived experiences in the future.
The PPIE work supported by this project demonstrated a more immediate impact as well. The CYP and parents present at the workshop had an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and they started having conversations that they didn’t feel able to explore previously.
Additionally, the Nell and the Neonatal Unit team presented this project at the Child Health Technology conference in 2023 and shared their work with a global community of innovators in paediatrics. This achievement has amplified the need for innovation in neonatal mental health to an international, cross-sector audience.
NEXT STEPS
The project team aims to continue developing the current app storylines and content by taking on board feedback from neonatal families as the app is rolled out.
Additionally, the team is in the process of creating additional storylines to reflect a wider range of neonatal experiences so that more families can see their lived experiences reflected in the app.
PARTNERS