Enhanced Family-Centered Care and Family Integrated Care for Preterm Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: Comparative Outcomes and Implementation Features-A Scoping Review.

Abstract

This scoping review maps and compares evidence on enhanced or modified Family-Centered Care (FCC) models-including Family Integrated Care (FICare) and related variants-against standard FCC/usual neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) care for preterm infants. We aimed to summarize the comparative effects on neonatal growth and development, feeding and hospital utilization metrics, parental engagement, and parental psychosocial outcomes, and to describe program characteristics and contextual factors reported alongside variation in results across settings. We included diverse study designs conducted in NICUs across multiple regions. Growth-related outcomes were the most commonly reported domain: 30 studies assessed weight gain, growth velocity, feeding progression, discharge weight, or breastfeeding, and 15 studies explicitly reported better growth or feeding-related outcomes with enhanced FCC/FICare than with standard FCC/usual care. Developmental outcomes were reported in 12 studies, parental psychosocial outcomes in 25 studies, hospital utilization metrics in 28 studies, and parental engagement measures in 22 studies. Benefits were most often described in programs that combined structured parent education with active bedside caregiving, participation in rounds, mentoring, or other implementation supports, although findings varied by program intensity, unit context, and implementation fidelity. Overall, the evidence supports enhanced FCC/FICare as a promising strategy for improving infant-family outcomes in NICUs, while highlighting the need for clearer component definitions, standardized outcome reporting, and longer-term follow-up to support scalable, sustainable implementation.