The Homeostasis-Enrichment-Plasticity (HEP) Approach for Premature Infants with Developmental Risks: A Pre-Post Feasibility Study.

: The environmental enrichment (EE) framework has inspired several early intervention (EI) approaches. This study evaluated the feasibility, safety, caregiver acceptance, and satisfaction of implementing the HEP Approach intervention, a novel EI model based on the EE paradigm. Outcome measures for motor development, individual functional goals, sensory functions, caregiver-provided environmental affordances, and motivation for movement were examined.

HEP (Homeostasis-Enrichment-Plasticity) Approach Changes Sensory-Motor Development Trajectory and Improves Parental Goals: A Single Subject Study of an Infant with Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy and Twin Anemia Polycythemia Sequence (TAPS).

Background: Early intervention (EI) for infants identified as being at high risk for cerebral palsy (CP), or who have been diagnosed with it, is critical for promotion of postnatal brain organization. The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of the Homeostasis-Enrichment-Plasticity (HEP) Approach, which is a contemporary EI model that applies the key principles of enriched environment paradigms and neuronal plasticity from experimental animal studies to ecological theories of human development on the motor development, sensory functions, and parental goals of an infant with twin anemia polycythemia sequence (TAPS) and CP.

Methods: An AB phase with follow-up single case study design which consisted of multiple baseline assessments with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2) and the Test of Sensory Functions in Infants (TSFI) was used.