Details

Purpose: Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids (HDHK) was the world’s first program to target fathers in positive lifestyle role modelling and effective parenting strategies to improve the physical activity and dietary behaviours of both themselves and their children. HDHK has been evaluated in efficacy, effectiveness and dissemination trials in Australia and recently adapted for delivery across different countries (USA, Germany, Darkinjung, Australia), settings (community, paediatric primary care) and cultures. This symposium will detail the adaptation processes, recruitment successes and challenges and preliminary results from pilot trials.

Rationale: The HDHK program has demonstrated clinically meaningful effects on several health behaviours (including physical activity, diet and weight) in both fathers and children. To facilitate future translation, it is important to establish if the program can reproduce the same outcomes under different conditions, settings, cultural contexts and population groups. 

 Objectives:

1.       To provide insights into processes conducted and planned for adaptation.

2.       To discuss recruitment strategies and challenges

3.       To provide feasibility outcomes and lessons learned?

Format: This symposium will include three presentations with international speakers from the USA, Germany and Australia. The format is as follows:

··   Chair: Prof Philip Morgan, University of Newcastle, Australia – to introduce briefly the general topic of the presentations and background to the Healthy Dads Healthy Kids program.

·        Presentation 1: Assoc Prof Teresia O’Connor, Baylor College of Medicine, USA. To provide insights into challenges and lessons learned regarding recruitment of Hispanic fathers for Papás Saludables, Niños Saludables Efficacy Trial.

·        Presentation 2: Dr Dorothea M I Schönbach, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, Germany. To provide insights into the comprehensive adaptation process and preliminary pilot findings for fathers and primary school children in a multicultural city located in Northern Germany.

·        Presentation 3: Mr Jake MacDonald University of Newcastle, Australia – To describe the cultural adaptation process of Healthy Dads Healthy Kids (HDHK) for Aboriginal fathers and their children living on Darkinjung Country, Australia.   

Interaction: Prof Philip Morgan will moderate general discussion between presenters and attendants.

Speaker