Chief investigators
Dr Vincent Mancini; Dr Amy Finaly-Jones; Prof Tobias Strunk; A/Prof Francis Mitrou; Dr Lynne Millar; Prof Peter McEvoy; A/Prof Trevor Mazzucchelli; Prof Bruce Robinson.
Associate Investigators
Dr Jasleen Chhabra; Dr Gayatri Jape; Prof Mary Sharp; Prof Rosanna Rooney; Dr Thomas Nevill.
Research team
Ms Ezra Kneebone
Project description
NICU Dads brings together experts spanning the domains of mental health, fatherhood, masculinities, and neonatal care. The project aims to improve the wellbeing and involvement of Western Australian fathers in the NICU. This will be achieved through the development, implementation and evaluation of two components:
- healthcare provider training to build their capacity to support fathers in the NICU;
and - in-person workshops and online resources for fathers to empower them to support their baby and partner in the NICU and support their own mental health and wellbeing.
These components will be co-designed with families, healthcare providers and community organisations, and will be piloted in the NICU at Perth Children’s Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital. This project will fill an important gap in existing parental support services for NICU families and will harness the untapped potential of fathers to support their babies and families in the NICU, and beyond.
Funding
Healthway’s Health Promotion Intervention Research Grant
Partner agencies
WA Child and Adolescent Health Service; Helping Little Hands; Tiny Sparks; Ngala; SMS4Dads; The PREPARE Foundation; Men’s Health and Wellbeing WA; Dads of the NICU Podcast; The Kids Research Institute Australia’s Preterm Community Reference Group; The Fathering Project.
Project outputs
Media
Researching support needs for dads with children in preterm care
What can a father do with a baby in the NICU?
Manuscripts
Want to learn more?
Email Ms Ezra Kneebone (ezra.kneebone@thekids.org.au) to get in touch with the NICU Dads research team.