Inventory of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for Healthy Start Programs

Evidence-based practices include actions, activities, strategies, or approaches that improve the health of women, before, during, and after pregnancy in order to improve birth outcomes and give infants up to age two years a healthy start. Also included in the collection are informational materials and tools that make it easier to implement evidence-based practices. To search by title, use the main search box located at the top of this page.

You searched for: Partner Involvement

Number of results: 23


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Preconception Health

This resource from the CDC defines and discusses the importance of preconception health. It features a link to 10 important steps and considerations for women planning to become pregnant. Another link for women not planning a pregnancy discusses 10 healthy habits of benefit should she become pregnant in the future, or even if she decides not to have children. A third link provides similar guidance for men with 10 recommendations for healthy living.

Topics:

Partner Involvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning

Approaches:

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Reproductive Life Plan

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Responsible Fatherhood Toolkit: Resources from the Field

This toolkit presents a compilation of resources that highlight the challenges and key issues associated with launching and sustaining a successful fatherhood program. It covers topics such as: building an effective fatherhood program,effectively engaging fathers, cultivating community partners, recruiting and training staff, serving fathers with specific barriers, and promoting sustainability. The toolkit provides tips and suggestions from experienced practitioners, activities for use with fathers in one-to-one or group sessions, tools from model programs to use and share with fathers, and other helpful resources.

Topics:

Intimate Partner Violence Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.

Fathering in 15

Fathering in 15™ is an interactive, online tool that helps organizations build the skills of fathers anytime, anywhere. Fathering in 15™ takes fathers through 15 interactive, engaging topics, each in 15 minutes. It is accessible on any computer or mobile device, and can be used a stand-alone, self-paced resource or to complement an existing group-based fatherhood program. Each topic follows the same framework using text written at 5th-6th grade reading level, along with short videos and interactive graphics to engage fathers in learning.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies and Practices

This technical package represents a select group of evidence-based strategies and approaches to help programs, communities and states sharpen their focus on prevention activities with the greatest potential to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and its consequences across the lifespan. These strategies include teaching safe and healthy relationship skills; engaging influential adults and peers; disrupting the developmental pathways toward IPV; creating protective environments; strengthening economic supports for families; and supporting survivors to increase safety and lessen harms. Commitment, cooperation, and leadership from numerous sectors, including public health, education, justice, health care, social services, business and labor, and government can bring about the successful implementation of this package.

Topics:

Intimate Partner Violence Life Course Model Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Intimate Partner Violence

Evidence Rating: I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.

The Good Road of Life

This culture-based program uses sources of strength such as spirituality, humor, and healing to assist Native men and their family members address the impact of colonization, trauma, racism and other challenges that threaten the well-being of children and families. The curriculum for Native men is designed to assist Native men reclaim their roles as brave warriors, fathers, and husbands who provide for and protect their families and communities. The curriculum for Native families is designed to assist Native men, women, and their children to address unresolved conflicts in relationships, improve communication skills, and keep Native families together.

Topics:

Alcohol/Drug Services Depression Intimate Partner Violence Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Intimate Partner Violence

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

24/7 Dad® To-Go App

The mobile version of the 24/7 Dad® lets dads install a checklist on their smartphones to use on an ongoing basis. The app provides a place where dads can customize time-sensitive checklists of to-do items related to involved, responsible fatherhood and helps them take action steps daily, weekly, and monthly to be active in their children’s lives. The app also includes links to information on the National Fatherhood Initiatives’ NFI’s website keeping dads connected to the latest practical advice and guidance on how to be a 24/7 Dad.  Note: Scroll to the bottom of the page to find links to access the app.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

2018 Prevention Resource Guide

This prevention resource guide offers information, strategies, and resources to support community service providers as they work with parents, caregivers, and children to prevent child maltreatment and promote social and emotional well-being. The guide focuses on protective factors that build on family strengths and promote optimal child and youth development. Information about protective factors is augmented with tools and strategies that help providers, advocates and policymakers integrate the factors into community programs and systems. The guide includes tip sheets for parents in English and Spanish on a range of parenting and child development topics.

Topics:

Intimate Partner Violence Life Course Model Parenting Education Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Intimate Partner Violence

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Promundo: Program P: A Manual for Engaging Men in Fatherhood, Caregiving, and Maternal and Child Health

Program P is a resource developed as part of the global MenCare campaign coordinated by Promundo and the Sonke Gender Justice Network. The manual outlines concrete strategies for engaging men in active caregiving from their partner’s pregnancy through their child’s early years, and preventing violence against women and children. It includes tools to aid in creating open spaces for men in the clinic setting, detailed guidance on providing gender-transformative group education for men, and advice on encouraging community mobilization around fatherhood, child protection, maternal and child health and gender equality. It is available in 5 languages.

Topics:

Intimate Partner Violence Parenting Education Partner Involvement Prenatal Care and Education

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Bringing Fathers In Fact Sheets

This set of 9 fact sheets for programs that serve families makes the case and provides implementation tips for fully and effectively engaging fathers. The fact sheets describe the importance of involved fathers for improving maternal and child health outcomes, supporting children’s early learning and reducing family and community violence. They also provide best practice do’s and don’ts, tips for attracting fathers to programs, and father-inclusive evaluation strategies.

Topics:

Participant Recruitment and Retention Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Changing Systems & Practice to Improve Outcomes for Young Fathers, Their Children & Their Families

This policy report highlights the need to support young fathers by providing recommendations for child welfare system policy and practice change. Research shows that the relationship between fathers and their children is essential to the well-being of families and the healthy development of children, however little attention is paid to the importance of engaging young fathers under age 26, particularly young fathers who are involved with child welfare systems. This report provides recommendations on how systems can better focus on father involvement to increase positive outcomes for fathers, their children and families.

Topics:

Case Management/Care Coordination Intimate Partner Violence Parenting Education Participant Recruitment and Retention Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Family Spirit

Family Spirit is an evidence-based early childhood home-visiting program designed for and by American Indian communities. Family Spirit combines the use of paraprofessionals from the community as home visitors and a culturally focused, strengths-based curriculum as a core strategy to support young families. From pregnancy through the child’s 3rd birthday, parents gain knowledge and skills to promote healthy development and positive lifestyles for themselves and their children. Family Spirit addresses intergenerational behavioral health problems, optimizes local cultural assets, and overcomes deficits in the professional health care workforce in low resource communities. Evidence from three randomized controlled trials has documented important results including: increased parenting knowledge and involvement; decreased maternal depression; increased home safety; decreased emotional and behavioral problems of mothers; and decreased emotional and behavioral problems of children. The Family Spirit curriculum modules cover: Prenatal Care, Infant Care, Your Growing Child, Toddler Care, My Family and Me, and Healthy Living.

Topics:

Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Depression Home Visiting Parenting Education Partner Involvement Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Socio-emotional Development for Children

Approaches:

Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Initiating Breastfeeding Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep Smoking Abstinence Sustaining Breastfeeding

Evidence Rating: I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.

Positive Parenting Tips

This component of the Child Development section of the CDC website provides information for parents on developmental milestones and positive parenting tips by age group, covering children 0-17 years of age. Age-specific injury prevention and safety advice as well as guidelines for promoting healthy bodies are also given. Parents or service providers for parents can download Positive Parenting Tip Sheets for use as take-home handouts.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children

Approaches:

Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Strong Families/Healthy Relationships Resources

This section of the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse provides resources on healthy relationships for programs that serve families. Healthy marriages and healthy relationships can serve an important role in promoting responsible fatherhood initiatives. Whether the fathers and families in your programs are currently married or not, integrating healthy relationship skills into your programs can better support fathers’ relationships with their partners and improve their co-parenting situations, leading to healthier models and environments for their children.

Topics:

Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Common Sense Parenting

Common Sense Parenting® (CSP) is a multi-session series for parents that provides logical strategies and easy-to-learn techniques to address issues of communication, discipline, decision making, relationships, self control, and school success for families in all situations. These classes incorporate research-proven child-care methods that are derived from the Boys Town Treatment Family Homes program and adapted for use in the home by parents. The program was originally designed for parents of children ages 6 to 16, but an adaptation for parents of toddlers and preschoolers also is available, along with a supplemental class on parenting children with ADHD.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.

Wise Guys

WISE GUYS: THE NEXT LEVEL is a flexible 5 to 12 week program that specifically targets men age 18 and older. Special topics that are addressed include stress and anger management; cohabitation and marriage; alcohol and other drugs; and an expanded fatherhood curriculum that provides information and resources for fathers from RAD (the Responsible and Active Dads program). The great information from the original Wise Guys program is also included in such a way as to suit its older audience.

Topics:

Alcohol/Drug Services Parenting Education Partner Involvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning STDs including HIV

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

The Nurturing Fathers Program

The Nurturing Fathers Program is an evidence-based, 13-week group-based program designed to teach parenting and nurturing skills to men. The Nurturing Fathers Program is an adaptation of the Nurturing Program philosophy and lessons are designed and implemented specifically for dads.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.

Mom as Gateway

Mom as Gateway is a workshop designed to address what is known as Maternal Gatekeeping – when a mother’s beliefs about a father, as well as her behaviors, hinder a father’s involvement with his children. Moms attend three 1-hour workshops that emphasize the importance of paternal involvement and aim to facilitate co-parenting by breaking down barriers between mothers and fathers.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.

InsideOut Dad

InsideOut Dad is an evidence-based fatherhood program designed specifically for incarcerated fathers. It aims to help these men improve their parenting skills and develop stronger relationships with their children while in prison and after release. The program consists of twelve 2-hour core sessions delivered weekly to groups of up to 12 fathers.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.

Boot Camp for New Dads

Boot Camp is a father-to-father community-based workshop that aims to inspire and equip men to become confidently engaged with their infants, support their mates, and personally navigate their transformation into dads. The nonprofit has been named a best practice by many organizations and, having graduated over 325,000 men, is by far the nation’s largest program for new fathers.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.

Family Foundations for a Strong Start

The Family Foundations program has been shown in NIH-funded research to help couples create strong, nurturing family bonds and raise well-adjusted children. Developed by clinical psychologist, family therapist, and prevention scientist Mark Feinberg, Ph.D. DVDs and workbooks help parents learn how to work together as an effective team to promote children’s sleep, self-regulation, attention, social competence, and well-being. Topic areas addressed in the program include: preparing for parenthood; working as a team; managing conflict; division of labor; planning fun and affection; and teaching and discipline. Includes 6 DVDs, with nearly 6 hours of content broken into 11 chapters, and a detailed workbook for each parent.

Topics:

Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

Growing Great Kids: Prenatal to 36 Months Curriculum

Growing Great Kids (GGK) is a comprehensive and skills-focused home visiting curriculum that takes a strength-based approach to growing nurturing parent-child relationships and supporting healthy childhood development. GGK modules are specifically designed to build protective factors for children, strengthen family foundations, and cultivate parental resilience. Training for home visitors to be certified to deliver the curriculum builds their competencies for: nurturing parental resiliency; advancing individual and family functioning; reducing a child’s exposure to toxic stress; nurturing parents’ problem-solving skills; strengthening the families’ support networks; and enabling parents to construct protective buffers around their children.

Topics:

Home Visiting Parenting Education Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

24/7 Dad

24/7 Dad® is a comprehensive fatherhood program available with innovative tools, strategies, and exercises for fathers of all races, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. Developed by fathering and parenting experts, it focuses on the characteristics men need to be good fathers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  24/7 Dad® focuses on key fathering characteristics like masculinity, discipline, and work-family balance – and helps men evaluate their parenting skills. The 24/7 Dad® curriculum was developed using a theoretical framework which is a combination of several theories (a multi-theory framework) that includes Social Learning Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior, Attachment Theory, Transtheoretical Model (also known as Stages of Change)

Topics:

Partner Involvement

Approaches:

Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Parenting Involvement

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.

CDC’s Information for Men on Preconception Health and Health Care

Men’s portion of the CDC’s information on preconception health and health care. Includes information on making a reproductive life plan for men, preventing and treating sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco and drug cessation, infertility, maintaining a healthy weight, learning about family history, getting help for violence, getting mentally healthy, and supporting one’s partner.

Topics:

Alcohol/Drug Services Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Intimate Partner Violence Partner Involvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning STDs including HIV Tobacco Cessation

Approaches:

Improve Women's Health Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive Life Plan

Evidence Rating: III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.