The Denver Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP®) Center

The Colorado NIDCAP ® Center provides training for professionals working with infants in the Intensive Care Nursery. The training is based on the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP ®) model developed by Dr. Heidelise Als at Harvard University. Trainees are taught a systematic assessment of an infant's behavioral repertoire in order to establish inferred developmental goals and provide recommendations for supportive care of the infant and family. One of the goals of the training is to assist individuals in shifting from a "protocol-based" to a "relationship-based" model, including families in the decision-making and care of their infants. Trainees receive feedback and mentoring along with basic didactic information. Assistance with integration of principles of developmentally supportive care into practice are provided not only to individuals, but also to the systems within which the trainees work.

Major Goals: 

1. To provide training and certification in the NIDCAP®. This program includes education in developmental care, observation of infants using the Naturalistic Observation of Newborn Infants, and production of an individualized developmental care plan for the infant, family and staff in support of the infant's developmental goals;

2. To provide support for NICU systems in development of a leadership team to address the implementation of developmentally supportive care;

3. To provide consultation to NICUs for system-wide implementation of individualized, developmentally supportive care.

Funding Sources: 

This program is supported by The Children's Hospital and Newborn Hope, Inc.

For more information: www.uchsc.edu/sm/peds/cfii

JFK Partners

University of Colorado Denver

13121 E. 17^th Ave, C234

Aurora, CO 80045

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