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Healthy Dads

The Healthy Dads project aims to support the mental health of men during the transition to fatherhood.

One in seven new fathers experiences high levels of psychological distress and as many as one in ten experience depression or anxiety. Often distressed fathers remain unidentified and unsupported due to both a reluctance to seek help for themselves and low levels of community understanding that the transition to parenthood is a risk period for fathers as well as mothers.

Project activities are being undertaken to address two objectives:

  1. To increase understanding of stress and distress in new fathers
  2. To increase the capacity of new fathers to take action to manage their mental health

This work is being informed by research commissioned by Beyond Blue into men’s experience of psychological distress in the perinatal period.

Research agency, Hall and Partners I Open Mind, conducted the formative research titled Healthy Dads? The challenge of being a new father. This research focused on understanding experiences of psychological distress in new fathers, their information and support needs, the barriers and facilitators of help seeking, and appropriate communication concepts for engagement.

Informed by the findings of the Healthy Dads research, three projects are underway to provide men with the knowledge, tools and support to stay resilience during the transition to fatherhood, these are:

Dadvice campaign and website

Led by Beyond Blue, Dadvice is a four-part web series that follows a group of new dads on their journey into fatherhood. 

New dads are encouraged to visit www.dadvice.org.au where they can watch full episodes, complete a quiz to check how they’re coping, and access further advice and support. They can also sign up to receive the Dadvice email series, timed to coincide with common early parenthood challenges.  

SMS4dads

Led by the University of Newcastle, ‘SMS4dads’ is a text messaging service which aims to keep in touch with dads through their smartphone before and after the birth of their baby.  The text messages contain tips, information, and links to services for new dads. The text messages will help dads connect with their baby, help him be a support for his partner, and remind him to take care of himself too. Dads’ mood will be tracked during the project, and contact made with those who indicate they may be distressed and require assistance. 

More information is available at www.sms4dads.com


Strengthening Parenting Partnerships

Beyond Blue is investing in an action research project which uses a digital intervention to strengthen parenting partnerships in the perinatal period and improves mental health outcomes for couples.

A major protective factor for mental health during the perinatal period is a mutually supportive partner relationship. An evidence base is emerging around the benefits of specifically targeting the ‘co-parenting’ aspect of a couple’s relationship in order to improve coping and support mental health.

Parenting partnerships (or co-parenting) are about how parents work together to meet the needs of their children. It includes how partners negotiate parenting roles and responsibilities, as well as the extent to which partners engage in supportive behaviours that affirm the contribution of the other.

In particular, this project will investigate how digital interventions can overcome the barriers to engaging fathers in face-to-face programs, and how fathers’ parenting self-efficacy can be improved by the intervention.


 

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The Healthy Dads project was funded with donations from Movember.

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