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Koly: Sound Program for Preterm Infant Development

by 

Hadas Manor

Design Management and Innovation track

Mentor — 

Sarah Auslander

The project redesigns the newborn’s sound environment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), relying for that purpose on the infant’s most developed sense – hearing – and on the most accessible communication channel for the parents and caregivers – voice. It is based on clinical studies on interventions in NICUs using music and speech, resulting in significant improvement in relieving pain, cardiac and respiratory functions, weight balance, and relaxation. Moreover, brain studies indicate that activating memory areas in the neonatal brain using familiar sounds is important as it cultivates future learning and communication skills.

The project seeks to make the use of development-supportive sound more accessible in the NICU space in two ways: physical and technological. Physically, the parents and staff are encouraged to use their voice by distributing leaflets and an informational app, as well as a book to be selected out of a variety of children’s books in several languages. Technologically, the parents are recorded by the app and the recording is played, together with development-supportive music when the parent is absent.

The program’s development and the implementation of its initial, physical stages are currently underway at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center, directed by Dr. Anat Oron. The implementation of this project encourages the playing of positive sounds to the preterm infants in the unit, indicates to the parents that care for their preterm infant has begun, and serves as a milestone for significant parental care during hospitalization until the release from the NICU. 

We expect the implementation of this program to help the staff responsible for treating the preterm infant to include and embrace an additional staff member: the parent. Koly looks at the preterm infant in a long-term view that seeks to change the global statistics regarding developmental deficiencies among former preterm infants, and to give them a chance to experience a normative development, as much as possible. 

This project is conducted as part of a collaboration in designing innovativeness in treatment environments between Bezalel and the Wolfson Innovativeness Authority.

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Hadas Manor

Hadas Manor is the director and owner of a studio for bridal dresses in Jerusalem, and entrepreneur and designer. Previously, she was a marketing writer for the Jewish National Fund. Hadas has an M.Des in Industrial Design, Design & Innovation Management Track, from Bezalel. She has also studied research-based meditation and mindfulness with Dr. Galia Tanay, and advanced PR at Shenkar. She has an MA in behavioral sciences from Ariel University. Hadas is married + 4, and lives in Nofei Prat.

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