Mobile applications to support parents in the transition from neonatal intensive care unit to home: a narrative review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Among the unique challenges for parents in the transition of infant care from neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to home are the medical complexity of their babies and the psychological burden of caring for this special patient population. Despite the increased use and accessibility of smartphones, mobile applications (apps) intended for use by families during this transition remain underdeveloped and understudied. Apps to support parents of infants in the NICU represent an accessible potential solution to mitigate existing disparities in follow up. Through this Narrative Review, we intend to describe the characteristics of and development process for apps intended to address the challenges parents with NICU babies may face, and to provide recommendations for further development of apps for this purpose. METHODS: We conducted a review of articles published between November 2012 to November 2022. This search spanned three major databases, PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL, using a controlled vocabulary and keywords for mobile apps and the NICU. These three databases generated 473 articles for review. Utilizing the online primary screening and data extraction tool Covidence, we ultimately included eight articles in this narrative review. KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS: There are few existing mobile apps intended to ease the transition home for parents of babies in the NICU. There are even fewer apps that have been critically evaluated using acceptable methods and produced with contribution from healthcare practitioners. Among the existing articles on app solutions to benefit education and socioemotional support for parents, many emphasized the importance of including key stakeholders during the app development process and highlighted both qualitative and quantitative measures for assessing relative success of these apps in a clinical setting. CONCLUSIONS: Although the experiences of parents with infants admitted to the NICU have been well-studied, there remain relatively few existing apps to provide educational and socioemotional support to this population. Future studies should focus on an iterative process of app development whereby both parents and providers are closely involved, in combination with critical appraisal of the app to assess for appropriate support and education of caregivers.