Healthy Start recognizes
the importance of encouraging male involvement
in the program. Grantees educated men
about the role they can play in fostering
positive pregnancy outcomes and in contributing
to their children’s health and wellbeing.
The overall goal of male involvement services
is to enable men to play a positive role
in the lives of participants and their
children.
Although not a required component of
Healthy Start projects, the majority of
grantees (61 percent) offered one or more
types of male involvement services in
2003. Three grantees reported that these
services were under development. The most
common services were encouragement of
male participation in prenatal and pediatric
visits (48 percent); conducting classes
on parenting skills (41 percent); and
providing counseling and support related
to the role of men in family planning
(39 percent). Other services, reported
by 15 percent of grantees, included fatherhood
fairs, Fathers’ Day activities,
male involvement consortium activities,
depression services, and health education. |
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