The Development of PATH, a Program to Support NICU Parent Mental Health Through the Transition From Hospital to Home

NCT06467916 · University of Colorado, Denver

Recruiting

In plain English

Click the button to translate this study into plain language — what it is, who qualifies, and what participation looks like.

About this study

The objective of this study is to develop and pilot test a telehealth-based mental health screening and engagement program that supports parents as their infants transition home from the NICU. The program will use a stepped-care approach to screen parents for depression, anxiety, and PTSD; provide a brief behavioral intervention to those who screen as having at least a low risk of these conditions; and provide a warm hand-off to community mental health services for those at medium to high risk.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * NICU parents: Participants will be parents of currently hospitalized preterm infants from either the OHSU NICU or the UCH NICU. We will include parents of live preterm infants who have been admitted in the NICU for at least 2 weeks. Parents must speak English or Spanish. Parents can be of any age. * NICU stakeholders: Participants will be stakeholders from either the OHSU NICU or the UCH NICU. Stakeholders will be social workers, mental health providers responsible for providing more intensive mental health support for NICU parents, nurses, neonatologists, and hospital administrators.

Study design

Enrollment target: 72 participants

Allocation: randomized

Masking: none

Age groups: child, adult, older_adult

Timeline

Starts: 2025-04-22

Estimated completion: 2026-04-30

Last updated: 2025-04-24

Interventions

Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment

Primary outcomes

• Mental health self-efficacy scale (~2 weeks prior to discharge; 2 weeks post-discharge; 6 weeks post-discharge)

Sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver · other

With: Oregon Health and Science University, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Contacts & investigators

ContactSusanne Klawetter, PhD · contact · susanne.klawetter@cuanschutz.edu · 303-724-1646

ContactSunah S Hwang, MD, PhD, MPH/MSPH · contact · sunah.hwang@childrenscolorado.org · 720-848-0000

All locations (2)

University of Colorado HospitalRecruiting

Aurora, Colorado, United States

Oregon Health & Science UniversityRecruiting

Portland, Oregon, United States

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