Following Up:
Lending Dad a helping hand
When a couple welcome their first baby into the home, life changes dramatically. A number of programs help new mothers cope with the challenges of parenting, but what about new fathers? Researchers Dr. Joyce Magill-Evans and Dr. Margaret Harrison from the University of Alberta, and Dr. Karen Benzies from the University of Calgary, wondered if home visits could help new dads hone their parenting skills. In 2004 they recruited 162 fathers of babies under 5 months of age to participate in their study. Now they are ready to tell Albertans the results.
Learning how to play
The fathers received one-on-one home visits from trained professionals who watched them show their infants how to play with a new toy.
The visitors observed the way fathers picked up on their infants' cues, says Dr. Benzies. "Many fathers don't realize the importance of talking to young infants. They're very interested in doing things with their child; but, because babies can't talk, fathers don't feel the need to verbalize to them-which is so important for fostering cognitive growth. We also encouraged fathers to go one step further and use descriptive words to help learning. Instead of saying ‘Get it!' they could say ‘Get the red rattle with the happy face!'" The visitors gave the fathers feedback and provided written information to reinforce the discussions. In a comparison group, fathers received information on toys from the home visitors, but no feedback on how to interact with their children.
Skillful parenting
Follow-up visits when the babies were 8 months old showed that fathers who had received two home visits were more skilled at fostering their children's cognitive development and were more sensitive to infant cues that those in the comparison group. "These fathers knew the importance of stopping when the baby needed a break and using words with their babies," says Dr. Magill-Evans. "Overall they liked the home visits. Just having someone come into the home and talk to them about fathering and their child reinforced their importance to their child."