Improving Pediatrician Counseling About Infant Safe Sleep Using the Electronic Medical Record

Health IT to Reduce Disparities in Risks for Sleep-related Infant Deaths, (SAFE Start 2.0 Project)

The study team will evaluate the impact of an Infant Sleep Assessment (ISA) tool with motivational interviewing (MI) communication training on clinician-parent communication during 2-month Well Baby Visits (WBV) and parent reported and observed infant sleep practices. The study team's hypotheses are that 1) clinicians who utilize the ISA with MI training will more effectively communicate safe sleep information to their patients' parents, and 2) these parents will have safer infant sleep practices than parents whose clinicians are in a standard of care control group.

This research addresses the problem of unsafe infant sleep practices that increase the risk of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID), which includes Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed. The study team will examine how a unique health information technology (HIT) tool impacts patient and provider outcomes when implemented in a pediatric primary care clinic serving a socioeconomically disadvantaged population that is primarily Black/African American. The study team's HIT tool - the Infant Sleep Assessment (ISA) - was developed through prior NIH-funded work and builds on the team's track record of innovative injury prevention research with parents and pediatric health care clinicians. During well-baby visits, the ISA assesses parents' reported sleep practices for their newborns. Using a programmed algorithm, the ISA identifies risky infant sleep practices and generates associated suggested feedback messages for the clinician that are derived from behavior change theory. This information is delivered via the electronic medical record (EMR) for the clinician's use during routine anticipatory guidance. To maximize the ISA's effectiveness, clinicians (pediatric residents) will receive a brief training in communication skills that are derived from Motivational Interviewing (MI). The study team will evaluate the impact of the ISA with MI communication training on clinician-parent communication during 2-month Well Baby Visits (WBV) and parent reported and observed infant sleep practices. The study team's hypotheses are that 1) clinicians who utilize the ISA with MI training will more effectively communicate safe sleep information to their patients' parents, and 2) these parents will have safer infant sleep practices than parents whose clinicians are in a standard of care control group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• English and Spanish-speaking parents and legal guardians bringing their infants to the Harriet Lane Clinic (pediatric primary care clinic) for any of their early well baby visits (between 3-5 days up to 4 weeks of age)
• Maryland recognizes teen parents as emancipated minors, so they will be eligible to provide consent and participate.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Infant is considered medically complex (e.g., serious congenital anomaly, requires cardiorespiratory monitoring, etc.)
• Assigned resident is not enrolled in the study