NHSA Male & Fatherhood Involvement Activities
Silent Voices: Listening to the Stories of Our Fathers, Our Brothers, Our Sons
NHSA held its first Fatherhood breakfast on March 8, during the 12th Annual Spring Conference. We invited the male attendees of the conference to attend this special session that focused on issues related to parental involvement and the role of fathers in maternal and child health. This provided the men with the opportunity to engage and network with each other as they had an honest discussion about the issues men face as fathers in today’s world and how they can become more involved in the lives of their children and partners. The presence of the keynote speaker, Mr. Joseph Jones, Founder, President and CEO of the Center for Urban Families only enhanced the experience as he shared his own story and his pledge to fathers.
Where Dads Matter Focus Groups
During the 12th Annual Spring Conference, focus groups were held with several conference attendees to gain better insight into how individuals are defining parental involvement during pregnancy. The research workgroup of Where Dads Matter are committed to providing a clear picture of what it means to be an involved father during pregnancy and used the focus groups to ask participants questions that would help measure male involvement, identify interventions in addressing barriers of male involvement and develop future research. The primary objectives of the focus groups aim to:
- Identify racial and ethnic similarities and differences in definitions of paternal involvement
- Examine trends in definitions of paternal involvement
- Formulate a definition of paternal involvement for future testing and measurement projects
A final report of the focus group findings will be released in early Summer 2011.
Resources
NHSA Resources
- NHSA Fatherhood Issue Brief - July 2010
Additional Resources
