HES-SO - Détail projet recherche

Business, Management and Services Health

The SNSF-funded project "Dionysus – A Mobile Application to Support Parents of Premature Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) from Admission to Home" aims to develop a mobile application to support parents of premature infants hospitalised in Switzerland. Based on a user-centred approach, the application is being developed in close collaboration with parents and healthcare professionals from the earliest stages of the project. This participatory and iterative process will ensure that the resulting tool is genuinely useful, intuitive and tailored to both clinical and family needs.

Main d'adulte touchant la main d'un nourrisson

This project brings together the Schools of Health Sciences and Business Management at HE-Arc. It is funded by the SNSF under the Health and Wellbeing for UAS and UTE call for proposals.

The project comprises two main stages. The first is an acceptability study designed to validate the application’s content with healthcare professionals and test its usability with parents of infants hospitalised in a neonatal intensive care unit. The second is a randomised clinical trial assessing the application’s impact on parental self-efficacy—a key factor in caring for the infant—as well as on other important indicators, including parental stress and satisfaction, neonatal readmission rates and technology adoption.

Conducted in partnership with Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), the project combines a rigorous scientific methodology, interdisciplinary expertise and clinical validation in real-world settings. It aims to develop an innovative and scalable digital health solution capable of sustainably improving support for families affected by premature birth, both in Switzerland and beyond.