FRPN Grantee Report: Testing the Feasibility of an Interactive, Mentor-Based, Text Messaging Program to Increase Fathers’ Engagement in Home Visitation
Feb 2020 | Shawna J. Lee & Joyce Y. LeeFRPN awarded funding to researchers at the University of Michigan to evaluate the implementation and usage of Text4Dad in six Healthy Start Engaged Father program sites located in urban and rural areas of Michigan. Text4Dad is a text messaging program to facilitate communication, interaction, and social support between fatherhood Community Health Workers (F-CHW) and the clients on their caseload.
Researchers concluded that fathers and F-CHWs found Text4Dad useful and relatively easy to use. Data suggested that Text4Dad could be implemented in community fatherhood programs, and qualitative data supported the notion that Text4Dad helped fathers stay connected to and engaged with the fatherhood program. Because F-CHWs needed ongoing technical assistance throughout the intervention, there is opportunity to more fully implement the mentorship and social support components of Text4Dad in the future.
The full study can be downloaded below. Review the executive summary or download the summary report.
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The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network was created with support from grant #90PR0006 (2013-2019) from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents are solely the responsibility of the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network, Temple University and the Center for Policy Research and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.