Parent education interventions designed to support the transition to parenthood: A realist review

Abstract

It is unlikely that a single standardized format or programme will meet all the specific learning needs of parents. Multiple approaches that will allow people to access information or education at a time and in a format that suits them may be of value. The importance of the transition to parenthood and its impact on parent and child wellbeing warrant careful consideration of current programming and careful evaluation of future initiatives.

First-time fathers experiences of their prenatal preparation in relation to challenges met in the early parenthood period: Implications for early parenthood preparation

“…This could be due to personality traits but could also be due to a competitive group climate as described by some fathers. Although parental preparation sessions may be one method, there appears to be a call for differing types of pedagogical approaches to parenthood preparation, a finding corroborated by earlier research (Gilmer et al 2016). The idea presented by fathers in the present study, of learning from other new parents was also shown in a review of the literature by Entsieh and Hallström (2016) and the encouraging effect of support from both peers and family is previously well known (Deave et al, 2008;Svensson et al, 2006).…”

Supporting parenting to address social inequalities in health: a synthesis of systematic reviews

“…lack of evidence ( n  = 3): according to the review authors, it was difficult to evaluate the quality of evidence in the studies they analysed because either the methodological rigour was considered poor [43], it could not be objectivised [44] or there was no description of the intervention’s content, implementation or results [45]. …”

“…Furthermore, health promotion stakeholders seem to assume a lack of parental skills. Parental knowledge should be evaluated prior to the intervention [45]. Finally, the value of peer groups is an under-researched area [30] .…”

“…A number of authors stated that the level of evidence of an intervention’s effectiveness was difficult to evaluate due to a lack of any description given of the intervention’s design, content, implementation or results [43–45]. Understanding how and in what context interventions were carried out appears to be essential for the evaluative framework [28].…”

“…We call this proportionate universalism” [52]. Consequently, there is a need to explore the interventions’ mechanisms to understand which interventions are (in)effective and in what contexts [21, 28, 45]. …”