Peer-reviewed article
Parental Attitudes, Roles and Influences on Decision Making for Child Well-being on the South Coast of Kenya—a Descriptive Study
Kennedy Sonkola, Jane Dene Kvalsvig, Inge D. Brouwer, Penny Holding, Myra Taylor ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study in Kwale County, Kenya examined how parents—particularly fathers—make decisions about their children's health and well-being. Researchers interviewed 61 couples separately to understand their attitudes, roles and influences on child care. Both mothers and fathers valued parenthood and wanted to support their children's health, but they took different roles and were influenced by different factors. The biggest barrier to fathers' involvement in health care was the time and cost of attending clinics.
Key points
- Both fathers and mothers valued their parental roles and expressed willingness to promote child well-being
- Fathers and mothers reported carrying out different roles and drawing on different influences in decision-making about child health
- The main barrier to paternal involvement in child health care was cost, both in terms of time and money for clinic attendance
- Current health services are primarily delivered through government Mother and Child Health programmes that do not actively engage fathers
- Community meetings where men gather could be used to communicate child health risks and preventative measures
Limitations
This is a descriptive qualitative study with no intervention evaluation, so it cannot tell us what strategies actually work to increase father involvement or improve child health outcomes. The findings are based on reported attitudes and beliefs rather than observed behaviours or measured health outcomes.
Abstract
While it is well-accepted that mothers play a key role in child health outcomes, the role of the father is less well understood. This study, the first of two investigations of the relationship between the social environment and child health, growth and development, was nested in a child nutrition programme carried out in Kwale County. At present child health services are largely administered through government Mother and Child Health programmes. Previous community consultations have raised the need to include all family members, particularly fathers, in the process of addressing child health and development issues. To provide a background to planning for inclusion of the wider family this study investigated local attitudes and beliefs towards parenting and how these may influence child health outcomes. In this study, we used qualitative in-depth interviews of 61 co-habiting couples with fathers and mothers interviewed separately, analysed using NVivo 10 software, to look for patterns of responses with regards to attitudes and behaviours relevant to child health. The study findings suggested that both mothers and fathers overall valued their status as parents and were willing to be involved in promoting the well-being of their children. Fathers and mothers saw that they carried out a different role, and drew on different influences in their decision making and role definition. The main barrier to direct paternal involvement in the health care of their children was reported to be the cost of attendance at clinics, both in terms of time and money. Innovation in how medical services engage with families is required to increase the supportive role that fathers can provide by using opportunities such as community meetings where men gather to explain child health risks and preventative measures.