Term 4 Developmental Playgroup (Copy)

Developmental Playgroup seeks to provide early support from suitably qualified allied health experts in the fields of physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy, to provide advice and guidance to families in a play based setting.

Playgroup is open to any child in WA aged 6m actual age to 3 years of age who was admitted to a Neonatal Unit after birth.  Neonatal Unit admission can be for any reason including but not limited to premature birth, sick full term, or surgical requirements.  The cost of this program is heavily subsidised by our fundraising efforts and generous donors.  You can enrol in Term 4 here:

https://www.tinysparkswa.org.au/shop/new-enrolment-developmental-playgroup-term-3-2021-9y8c2

Father’s Day 2021

Way back in 2014 when establishing what activities we would undertake in our foundation year we all agree that it was imperative to mark Special Occasions in Neonatal Units.  Since then we have provided gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas.  This year was no exception!  We provided more than 300 gifts to various Neonatal Units in WA for Father’s Day.  We are very grateful to have received some gift card donations for Woolworths which assisted greatly in provision of these gifts.

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The social study

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY: The University of Queensland in Australia is seeking parents of preemies for the Preemie SOCiAL Study.  

If you are the parent of a preemie who is now 5 – 18 years old and you live in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom or the United States of America, please share your experiences to help us better understand the social development of children born preterm: https://tinyurl.com/SOCiALresearchstudy  

Researchers have official ethical approval (#2021/HE001414). Please email jemima.walker@uq.edu.au if you have any questions or would like more information.  

Thank you! 

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY

We are so pleased to hear that this new research study is getting underway! The study aims to better understand the experiences of parents:

- who have a preterm infants who has been in a NICU;

- gain the perspectives of parents re the care provided to their infant (what was helpful and what was not/barriers); and

- be able to address any items or concerns that reoccur following all interviews to improve the current services provided at KEMH.

Sharing your experience may results in real change for others in the future!

The inclusion criteria is:

- Infant was in a Perth-based NICU and was preterm;

- Participants live in Perth;

- Interviews are with the mothers, fathers or primary care-givers of the pre-term infants; and

- the preterm infant is less than 18 months old now.

The interviews:

- should take ~20-30 minutes

- in-person interview

- conducted at a public place of convenience (e.g. park or café) but not in their home

- anonymous and confidential

- will have the opportunity to review the transcript when completed

- following the interview the participant will be given a $25 gift voucher to offset any expenses incurred as a result of the interview (eg travel etc).

If you are interested in taking part please contact Rebecca. She can’t wait to hear from you :)