Why is this research being undertaken?

• Infants born very prematurely (less than 32 weeks) may be at greater risk of developing problems associated with movement skills
• This can lead to difficulties with things such as handwriting and participation in sports and other physical activities.

The HOP-ON study will:

1. Develop an educational programme to show parents how to help their premature infants learn new movement skills from an early age
2. Find out how useful parents found the intervention and whether the intervention leads to better movement skills.

We will provide information to parents in a programme we have called 'HOP-ON'.

HOP-ON shows parents:

• How to interact with their premature infant
• How to encourage their premature infant's movement development.
  

HOP-ON is available as a CD-ROM or DVD and information booklet and is provided in two volumes.

We wish to look at how parents follow the guidance in the HOP-ON programme and whether this leads to better motor skills.

In order to see whether the HOP-ON programme is helpful, parents will be randomly allocated either the HOP-ON programme or a similar programme called ‘SMILES’ which is also designed for parents of premature infants.