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. 2023 Dec 19:11:1193974.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1193974. eCollection 2023.

Integrating father involvement into early childhood initiatives delivered at scale: key considerations

Sapna Nair  1 , Harshula Sinha  1 , Penny Holding  2   3
Affiliations

Integrating father involvement into early childhood initiatives delivered at scale: key considerations

Sapna Nair et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Early child development (ECD) interventions, usually centered around the mother, exclude fathers from contributing to childcare. Research shows that a father’s involvement in childcare can have a positive impact on the child’s growth. In this light, a trial was conducted in rural India wherein a new program component aimed at enhancing fathers’ engagement in early child was incorporated into an existing childcare intervention. The paper highlights the learnings drawn from the trial to present pathways to change, that is, strategies needed to embed father involvement as a component within the intervention ecosystem.

Keywords: ECD intervention; ECD intervention childcare; childcare; early child development; father; father involvement.

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Conflict of interest statement

PH was employed by Identitea. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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