Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Father Engagement Questionnaire

Lay Health Workers Engaging Latino Fathers: A qualitative study

Behavioral Parent Training programs (BPTs) are evidence-based interventions that have been shown to be effective when implemented in various contexts and with different racial/ethnic minority families. Despite evidence showing their effectiveness within the Latinx community, disparities in access to BPTs still persist. In addition, fathers continue to show low rates of attendance and engagement despite evidence suggesting positive outcomes for the youth and family when fathers are involved in BPT treatment. Lay health workers (LHWs), community members without specialized metal health training that often live in the communities they serve, have been identified as engagement specialists that are uniquely positioned to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in access to services. The current study utilized a qualitative approach to examine this workforce's perspectives on engaging Latino fathers in parenting services in children's mental health. Qualitative themes revealed that LHWs have generally positive attitudes towards engaging Latino fathers in parenting interventions (i.e., benefits to parent-child relationship) despite experiencing barriers to engagement (e.g., culturally defined gender roles, fathers being less likely to ask for help). Themes also elucidate various engagement strategies that LHWs use to engage fathers in treatment (e.g., adapting treatment setting). Considerations for future LHW trainings and workforce development are discussed with a focus on how to incorporate cultural values in the use of father-engagement strategies.

Global Workforce Development in Father Engagement Competencies for Family-Based Interventions Using an Online Training Program: A Mixed-Method Feasibility Study

Global access to practitioner training in the clinical engagement of fathers in family-based interventions is limited. The current study evaluated the feasibility of training practitioners in Canada and UK using online training developed in Australia by examining improvements in practitioner confidence and competence in father engagement, training satisfaction, qualitative feedback, and benchmarking results to those from an Australian sample. Practitioners were recruited to participate in a 2-h online training program through health services and charity organisations. The online program required practitioners to watch a video and complete self-reflection exercises in a digital workbook. Pre- and post-training measures were collected immediately before and after the online training program. The results indicated significantly large improvements in self-reported confidence and competence in engaging fathers following training, with levels of improvement similar to those found in Australia. Training satisfaction was high and qualitative feedback suggested providing local resources and increasing representation of social diversity could improve training relevance in local contexts. The findings suggest online training in father engagement can contribute to global workforce development in improving practitioners' skills in engaging fathers in family-based interventions.

Engagement in home visiting: An overview of the problem and how a coalition of researchers worked to address this cross-model concern

Home visiting is a widely supported intervention strategy for parents of young children who are in need of parenting skill improvement. However, parental engagement limits the potential public health impact of home visiting, as these programs often have low enrollment rates, as well as high attrition and low completion rates for those who enroll in these programs. The Coalition for Research on Engagement and Well-being (CREW) provided support for three pilot projects representing different home visiting models and aspects of engagement. The results of these pilot projects are presented in this special section. The purpose of this commentary is to introduce CREW and highlight the importance of a cross-model project to improve engagement among home visiting programs.

Developing and evaluating a lay health worker delivered implementation intervention to decrease engagement disparities in behavioural parent training: a mixed methods study protocol

INTRODUCTION

Behavioural parent training (BPT) programmes are effective in preventing and treating early-onset conduct problems and child maltreatment. Unfortunately, pervasive mental health service disparities continue to limit access to and engagement in these interventions. Furthermore, challenges with parental engagement can impede the successful implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in community settings that serve low-income, ethnic minority families. Lay health workers (LHWs)-individuals without formal mental health training-represent an important workforce to increase engagement, as they are members of the communities they serve. However, the mobilisation of LHWs has not been well studied as an implementation strategy to extend the reach or effectiveness of EBPs in the USA. LHW-delivered implementation interventions that specifically support the engagement of Latinx parents in evidence-based BPT programmes have the potential to improve clinical and implementation outcomes.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A community-partnered approach will use the Quality Implementation Framework (QIF) to tailor and implement an LHW-delivered implementation intervention that aims to promote Latinx parent engagement in BPT programmes. Steps from the QIF will guide study activities to (1) conduct a mixed methods needs assessment to fit the implementation intervention to the local context, (2) adapt LHW-delivered implementation strategies to promote parent access to and engagement in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and (3) conduct a hybrid effectiveness-implementation pilot trial to examine the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of the LHW implementation intervention at increasing engagement.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Study procedures have been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Results will be shared with the community-advisory group, at community-based meetings for other stakeholders involved in the pilot project, and submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Evaluating Practitioner Training to Improve Competencies and Organizational Practices for Engaging Fathers in Parenting Interventions

Fathers are consistently underrepresented in parenting interventions and practitioners are an important target for change in interventions to enhance father engagement. This research examined the effects of two practitioner training programs in improving practitioner rated competencies and organizational father-inclusive practices. Two studies were conducted, each with a single group, repeated measures (pre, post and 2-month follow-up) design. Study 1 (N = 233) examined the outcomes of face-to-face training in improving practitioner ratings of competencies in engaging fathers, perceived effectiveness and use of father engagement strategies, organizational practices and rates of father engagement. Study 2 (N = 356) examined online training using the same outcome measures. Practitioners in both training formats improved in their competencies, organizational practices and rates of father engagement over time, yet those in the online format deteriorated in three competencies from post-training to follow-up. The implications for delivering practitioner training programs to enhance competencies and rates of father engagement are discussed.