Christine Gervais

The Father Friendly Initiative within Families: Using a logic model to develop program theory for a father support program

The transition to fatherhood, with its numerous challenges, has been well documented. Likewise, fathers relationships with health and social services have also begun to be explored. Yet despite the problems fathers experience in interactions with healthcare services, few programs have been developed for them. To explain this, some authors point to the difficulty practitioners encounter in developing and structuring the theory of programs they are trying to create to promote and support father involvement (Savaya, R., & Waysman, M. (2005). Administration in Social Work, 29(2), 85), even when such theory is key to a programs effectiveness (Chen, H.-T. (2005). Practical program evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications). The objective of the present paper is to present a tool, the logic model, to bridge this gap and to equip practitioners for structuring program theory. This paper addresses two questions: (1) What would be a useful instrument for structuring the development of program theory in interventions for fathers? (2) How would the concepts of a father involvement program best be organized? The case of the Father Friendly Initiative within Families (FFIF) program is used to present and illustrate six simple steps for developing a logic model that are based on program theory and demonstrate its relevance.

The role of fathers during breastfeeding

OBJECTIVEnidentify fathers perceptions of their role in a breastfeeding context.nnnSETTINGnthree different geographic areas (urban, semi-urban, and rural) of Quebec, a francophone province in Canada.nnnPARTICIPANTSn43 fathers whose children had been exclusively breastfed for a minimum of six months.nnnMETHODSna qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was undertaken. Thematic analysis of the interviews was carried out with NVivo 11.nnnFINDINGSnvariations were identified in the role of father during breastfeeding, namely, 1) acting as partners in decision-making; 2) being responsible for the family functioning, and 3) providing emotional support to the mother. These different variants each entail challenges and tasks.nnnKEY CONCLUSIONSnparticipating fathers perceived their role as much more complex than the limited role of breastfeeding facilitator that is usually attributed to them. Fathers saw themselves as stakeholders in decision-making relating to how their child was fed and they reacted to the imbalance created by breastfeeding. Their involvement occurred at several levels: that of their child, their spouse, and their family.nnnIMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICEnthese results suggest that more attention should be given to fathers roles in a breastfeeding context and more investigation is required into the extent to which health professionals, such as midwives and nurses, support fathers in managing these various roles and the challenges they entail.

Fathers’ Perspectives on Their Relationship With Their Infant in the Context of Breastfeeding

Research has demonstrated beneficial effects on children’s development of both breastfeeding and fathers’ involvement. Evidence has also shown that breastfeeding could influence paternal behaviors. Since there is little data available on paternal representations of breastfeeding and on its effects on paternal involvement, the aim of the present study is to bridge that gap by examining fathers’ perceptions of their relationship with their infant in the context of breastfeeding. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 43 fathers of an infant who had been exclusively breast-fed for a minimum of 6 months. These were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The fathers identified some impacts of breastfeeding on the father–infant relationship. Feeding their infant themselves appeared to be a determining moment in this relationship. These results highlight the relevance of supporting early father–infant bonding in the breastfeeding context.

Professionals’ positive perceptions of fathers are associated with more favourable attitudes towards including them in family interventions

This Université du Québec en Outaouais study examined professionals’ attitudes towards fathers, their perceived self‐efficacy when working with them and their perceptions of the importance of including fathers in family interventions.

Adaptation of an existing measure to assess professionals’ attitudes regarding the importance of involving fathers in interventions with families

Introduction:tr Despitetr greatertr fathertr participationtr intr childtr care/rearingtr nowadaystr andtr the challengetr oftr involvingtr fatherstr intr nursingtr interventions,tr notr instrumenttr existstr totr measure professionaltr attitudestr towardtr fathertr involvementtr intr familytr interventions.tr Objectives:tr Thetr aimtr of thistr studytr wastr totr adapttr antr existingtr measuretr thattr assessestr nursetr attitudestr regardingtr the importancetr oftr includingtr familiestr intr nursingtr caretr intotr atr measuretr thattr assessestr professionals’ attitudestr towardstr thetr importancetr oftr involvingtr fatherstr intr interventionstr withtr families.tr Method: Thetr Professionals’tr Attitudestr towardstr Fathertr Involvementtr (PAFI)tr scaletr wastr adaptedtr fromtr the Families’tr Importancetr intr Nursingtr Caretr –tr Nursetr Attitudestr (FINC-xad‐NA)tr scale.tr Atr totaltr oftr 297 professionalstr intr familytr caretr completedtr thetr 26tr itemstr oftr thetr PAFI.tr Results:tr Itemstr analysis indicatedtr threetr itemstr hadtr lowtr variabilitytr andtr abnormaltr distribution.tr Principaltr component analysistr wastr conductedtr withtr thetr 23tr remainingtr items.tr Resultstr revealedtr atr solutiontr withtr four factorstr reproducingtr thetr structuretr oftr thetr originaltr scale:tr Fathertr astr conversationaltr partner,tr Father astr resource,tr Fathertr astr burden,tr andtr Fathertr astr owntr resource.tr Mosttr itemstr loadedtr ontr theirtr original factor.tr Thetr fourtr subscalestr andtr thetr globaltr scaletr showedtr goodtr internaltr consistency.tr Discussion andtr conclusion:tr Eventr thoughtr furthertr studiestr aretr needed,tr thistr adaptedtr scaletr nowtr enables researcherstr andtr practitionerstr totr assesstr professionals’tr attitudestr towardstr thetr importancetr of involvingtr fatherstr intr interventionstr withtr families.