Parent Partners: a parent-to-parent support program in the NICU. Part 1: Program development.

Neonatal intensive care units (NICU) face the challenge of developing family-centered systems of service delivery. An important component of family-centered care is parent-to-parent support. A parent-to-parent support program that meets the needs of both parents and staff can be successfully established in the NICU if the principles of planned change are used to guide the process of program development, implementation, and evaluation.