Programming - MenCare

Program P

Program P, our flagship fatherhood program, provides concrete strategies and activities to engage men globally in active fatherhood from their partner’s pregnancies through their children’s early years.

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Program P is named after padre and pai, the words for father in Spanish and Portuguese. The program provides concrete strategies to engage men in active fatherhood from prenatal care through delivery, childbirth, and their children’s early years.

Authored by MenCare partners Red de Masculinidad por la Igualdad de Género (REDMAS), Equimundo, and Fundación CulturaSalud/EME, Program P has three components: offering information and tools for health care providers, developing group activities for fathers and couples, and providing guidance for designing community campaigns. By targeting men, primarily through health sector, Program P engages fathers and their partners at a critical moment – usually during their partner’s pregnancies – when they are open to adopting new caregiving behaviors.

Our program identifies best practices for engaging men in fatherhood and caregiving; maternal, newborn, and child health; and the prevention of violence against women and children. It is designed for use by health workers, social activists, nonprofit organizations and NGOs, educators, and other individuals and institutions that aim to work with men as caregivers as a starting point, with the goal of improving family well-being and promoting gender equality.

Engaging expectant and new fathers is a critical time when they are open to adopting new caregiving behaviors.

Working with men as fathers is a key entry point to discussing sensitive subjects around traditional gender norms, and the way in which these norms negatively impact communities. Through discussion guides, role plays, and hands-on activities (such as learning how to change diapers), men and their partners are encouraged to discuss and challenge traditional masculine and inequitable gender norms and to practice more positive social behaviors in their families and communities.

ADAPTATIONS

Program P has been revised and adapted to over 15 country contexts.

Results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Program P in Rwanda, released in 2018, reveal powerful impacts of this targeted, gender-transformative programming on health and violence outcomes. Results show that almost two years after participating in the program, men are nearly half as likely to use violence against their female partners and spend almost one hour more per day doing household chores.

Qualitative results from Program P’s implementation have also shown positive changes in the lives of men and their families. Young fathers in Nicaragua, one of the locations where Program P was tested, reported improved relationships with their children and partners, as well as greater participation in household work and childcare. In addition, in a partnership between World Education and Equimundo, men in Sri Lanka learned to manage difficult emotions and reported a decrease in substance abuse among both themselves and their partners. Furthermore, many of the men and staff who were involved have continued to spread the program’s messages throughout their communities and have recruited other men to participate.

Program P has also been adapted for Lebanese and Syrian fathers and couples in Beirut, with a special focus on early childhood development (ECD).