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In partnership with Maui Family Support Services, Selva Lewin-Bizan, PhD, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is conducting an assessment funded by the FRPN that features a 12-week text messaging intervention program. Below, program supervisor and facilitator, Kawika Mattos, and Dr. Lewin-Bizan describe their work to develop and implement the intervention.
Kawika Mattos
Why is evaluation important to you?
Evaluation work helps provide valuable empirical evidence for programs. Text messaging brings information to fathers in an easy and modern way. It also provides data that helps us evaluate information on demographics, behavior patterns and interest levels of dads.
Could you describe the text messaging intervention that you're testing?
Fathers receive texts three times per week over 12 weeks. This format allows us to reach fathers who may not attend a parenting or child development class but may be interested in receiving information on fathering. Three items are addressed in the texts: encouraging fathering skills, providing information on normative child development and age appropriate activities for fathers to do with their children.
Dr. Lewin-Bizan
How did you get involved with conducting fatherhood research?
Before pursuing a PhD, I was a clinical social worker. I worked in the Israel Defense Force as a mental health officer, providing counseling to teenagers who had difficulties transitioning from high school to the mandatory military service.
In Israel, the vast majority of mothers work and play important roles in the economic, social and political spheres while at home, both fathers and mothers are involved in childcare. The “normal” was to sometimes see moms, sometimes see dads and sometimes see both parents accompanying their children to counseling. However, in all my years providing counseling to children in the U.S., I have seen less than a handful of fathers accompanying their children, which struck me as odd.
Recognizing the different cultural practices and values of fathers (and mothers), I wanted to better understand how the role of fathers depends on their context, which led me to becoming involved in fatherhood research.
Why did you select text messaging as a strategy to engage fathers and deliver material to improve their parenting skills?
There is a consensus that one strategy to enhance father involvement is to engage them in parenting programs. In practice, however, I've found that low-income fathers are reluctant to enroll in traditional programs due to competing demands such as work shifts and family responsibilities.
I began looking for an alternative strategy to engage fathers and deliver material that doesn't require substantial time commitment; text messaging seemed to be a viable strategy to directly connect with fathers and promote positive fathering behaviors.
My main focus is to assess whether the intervention can work in terms of feasibility and acceptability. The secondary focus is to do a preliminary, descriptive examination of participant responses to the intervention.
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