Fathers Know Best: Inner-City African American Fathers' Perceptions Regarding Their Involvement in the Pediatric Medical Home
Fathers Know Best: Inner-City African American Fathers' Perceptions Regarding Their Involvement in the Pediatric Medical Home
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DOI：
10.1007/s40615-017-0407-4
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发表时间：
2018-06-01
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Unaka, Ndidi I.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bignall, Orville Newton-Ray;Bignall, Whitney J. Raglin;Unaka, Ndidi I.
目的尽管近四分之三的非裔美国人(AA)孩子是未婚母亲所生，但无论他们是否与孩子生活在一起，AA父亲都保持着相对较高的育儿投入水平。虽然父亲的参与与减少不利的儿童健康结局相关，但父亲参与儿童健康的性质--包括参与儿科疗养院--在很大程度上仍未被探索。本研究旨在评估一群城市再生障碍性贫血父亲对儿科疗养院参与的认知。方法对中西部城市社区的再生障碍性贫血父亲进行团体水平评估(GLA；N=17)，以考察对儿科疗养院参与的认知。研究参与者根据GLA反应生成主题，研究人员使用扎根理论作为定性分析主题数据的框架。结果父亲希望母亲和儿科医生认可他们的父母角色。他们感觉到了未被认可的育儿优势，包括成为孩子的榜样、教师和提供者。受访者支持儿科保健系统的不确定性，不知道孩子的儿科预约，以及感觉被孩子的母亲和儿科提供者排除在保健决策之外。结论在我们的队列中，再生障碍性贫血的父亲强烈希望参与孩子的健康发展，但在育儿角色上感到被边缘化。AA父亲希望改善与医生和子女母亲的沟通，并积极参与卫生保健决策。加强让父亲参与儿科医疗院的工作可能会改善健康状况，缩小少数族裔儿童的差距。
Objective Despite nearly three in four African American (AA) children being born to unwed mothers, AA fathers maintain relatively high levels of parenting engagement, whether or not they live with their children. While father involvement correlates with decreased adverse child health outcomes, the nature of AA father involvement in child health-including engagement in the pediatric medical home-remains largely unexplored. Our study aimed to assess perceptions of pediatric medical home participation among a cohort of urban, AA fathers.Methods Group level assessments (GLA; N = 17) were conducted among AA fathers in an urban, Midwestern neighborhood to examine perceptions regarding pediatric medical home involvement. Study participants generated themes based on GLA responses, and study staff used grounded theory as a framework for qualitative analysis of thematic data.Results Fathers desired to have their parental role acknowledged by mothers and pediatricians. They perceived unrecognized parenting strengths, including being role models, teachers, and providers for their children. Respondents endorsed uncertainty navigating the pediatric health care system, unawareness of their children's pediatric appointments, and feeling excluded from health care decision-making by their children's mothers and pediatric providers.Conclusions In our cohort, AA fathers have a strong desire to be involved in their children's healthy development, but feel marginalized in their parenting role. AA fathers want improved communication with physicians and their children's mothers and to be actively included in health care decision-making. Enhanced efforts to engage fathers in the pediatric medical home may lead to improved health outcomes and reduced disparities for minority children.