Healthcare and Early Intervention Collaborative Supports for Families and Young Children

Children who had a prolonged hospital stay are often at risk for developmental disabilities or delays by nature of their illnesses and diagnoses. The hospitalization also can significantly disrupt the developing infant-parent relationship. This article describes an innovative intervention model providing interagency and interdisciplinary supports for preterm infants and sick young children between birth and 3 years of age and their families in a hospital-based setting. Model components are outlined according to the sources of support provided to families and children such as social-emotional, resource-material, and informational supports. Program evaluation data are shared on the basis of interviews with the models' major stakeholders-parents, healthcare providers, and early interventionists. Suggestions for replication and improvement of the model toward the realization of a seamless system of supports for infants and toddlers in hospital-based settings and during their transition to community-based early intervention services are provided. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]