FIU Nursing Professors Receive $2.15M Federal Grant for R01 Study On Impact of Child Death on the Family Dynamic

Drs. JoAnne Youngblut and Dorothy Brooten to Lead Unique NIH Study
on Family Functioning After Child Death in a NICU/PICU

MIAMI, FL  --- For most parents the birth of a child signifies the beginning of a new set of hopes and dreams.  But what happens to parents when these hopes and dreams are cut short with the untimely death of a child? Florida International University (FIU) College of Nursing professors JoAnne M. Youngblut, PhD, RN, FAAN and Dorothy Brooten, PhD, RN, FAAN have been awarded a $2.15 million grant by the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Nursing Research to field a unique R01 class study on this very subject titled “Death in the PICU/NICU:  Parent & Family Functioning.”

The five-year study will focus on how families function and relate with one another (i.e. mother-to-father, parents-to-surviving children) after the death of a child in a pediatric or neonatal intensive care unit (PICU/NICU). Youngblut’s research team will follow a group of parents and families during a 13-month period to study their bereavement process, mental health and daily functioning (e.g. family interaction/communication, parenting duties, household responsibilities) within	JoAnne M. Youngblut PhD, RN, FAAN FIU College of Nursing & Health Sciences	Dorothy Brooten PhD, RN, FAAN FIU College of Nursing & Health Sciences
the family unit at various stages.  The goal is to understand why some family members are more at risk than others to function less well, what the signs of declining functionality are, and as a result, which families may be at greater risk to deteriorate as a unit after such a loss.

“Research in this area is crucial so that NICU/PICU health care professionals and primary care providers can identify parents and families at risk for poor outcomes and target them for early
intervention,” says Youngblut, Principal Investigator of the study.  “By knowing what signs to look for in someone’s behavior that point to a potential for deterioration, NICU/PICU team members can take the necessary and appropriate steps, both in and out of the hospital setting, to help these parents/families deal with a child’s death before they have significant difficulty functioning,” Brooten elaborates.

Unlike other studies of this nature, the project headed by Youngblut and Brooten will interview families soon after a child’s death and at subsequent time points to identify factors that are important to a family’s recovery.   Also, it will be the first study to provide data on cross-cultural similarities and differences in the aftermath of a child’s death.  The research team will be studying 185 families of White, Black and Hispanic descent, from Miami Children’s Hospital, Broward General Medical Center and Jackson Memorial Hospital, to detect racial/ethnic/cultural differences and/or similarities that may play a role in the success of a family’s recovery process. Interviews will be conducted in English and Spanish.

JoAnne Youngblut is a noted leader and advocate for nursing research who has more than 17 years of research experience primarily focused on families raising vulnerable children.  She has done intensive research with preschool children who have suffered mild to severe head trauma. Her research has examined the parents’ mental well-being, the parent-child relationship, and other family dynamics during the first year after the injury.

Dorothy Brooten is an esteemed educator and nurse researcher whose studies have focused on the development, testing and refinement of a quality cost model of transitional care delivery to high-risk patient groups, particularly minority childbearing women and on young children.  She is currently heading a community education project aimed at decreasing asthma episodes in young Hispanic children, who have been found in studies to suffer from a higher incidence of asthma than children of other race groups.  The study was developed in English and Spanish and has been tested in seven sites nationally.

About the FIU College of Nursing & Health Sciences: Established in 1982, the School of Nursing at Florida International University (FIU) was elevated in October 2006 into the College of Nursing & Health Sciences.  It is the second-largest producer of nursing professionals in the State, offering undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, baccalaureate completion and specialty programs in nursing education.  The College is fully accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, the Florida State Board of Nursing and the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.  Based in Miami, Florida, the College of Nursing & Health Sciences is a part of Florida International University, a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution with a Carnegie Foundation classification as a doctoral, research extensive university. FIU has ranked among the top 100 public national universities by U.S. News & World Reports.