Promoting father-friendly healthcare

Fathers are taking a more active role in their children's lives and healthcare; consequently, healthcare providers need to be more aware of and attentive to fathers in clinical encounters. The literature on healthcare provider inclusion of fathers is sparse. The focus has been mainly on exhortations to include fathers, or has documented treatment of fathers as invisible in healthcare settings. While not overtly hostile to fathers, healthcare providers occasionally marginalize or ignore them. The purpose of this article is to help healthcare providers: (1) become aware of and assess their interactions with fathers and (2) be more intentional in their interactions with them. To that end, this article includes a self-assessment of one's practice, including the following components: introductions, body language, eye contact, obtaining/giving information, and beliefs about the role of fathers. Intentional interactions for developing more father-friendly healthcare are discussed including both small and large changes, guided by the PLISSIT model. Finally, best practices, challenges, issues, and resources related to father inclusion in healthcare are described. The major issue for providers is to no longer question whether to include fathers, but how.