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DadsCan: One of Canada’s original father involvement organizations

Neil Campbell doesn't have grandchildren yet, but if there's a granddaddy of father education in Canada, it must be him. Campbell, a father if two and psychotherapist by trade, piloted his first course for new and expectant fathers in 1990. Within two years he was offering "The Dad Classes," as they came to be called, at St. Joseph's Health Centre in London, Ontario on a regular basis.

Campbell's ideas about father-centred prenatal education were born of his own experience attending prenatal classes with his wife, Karen, 18 years ago.

"I remember one night, during the break, some of us men were standing around the pop machine making small talk," he recalls. "One of the fathers starting talking about how he was worried that there would be a lot of blood and, although there were a few snickers, we quickly saw that it really was an issue for this man." It also struck Campbell that this father-to-be probably did not feel free to talk about his own fears in a mother-centred prenatal class where his role was to learn how to support his wife through the difficult process of labour.

Campbell began to see the need for prenatal classes for fathers, where men could learn together and discuss issues they might not want to talk about in front of their partner. Prenatal classes for couples, were an important development, Campbell feels, because they helped men to become more involved in pregnancy and birth. "But these courses were unable to fully address all the issues that men had about becoming fathers, so I set about designing a curriculum to address those issues. "

The Dad Classes have evolved into a 12.5 hour program spread out over five-weeks of classes. Men usually attend when their wives are three to eight months pregnant.

Campbell's approach is less about teaching parenting or baby care techniques and more about helping men adapt to fatherhood, and connect with their babies. "I don't teach men exactly how to give a bath or change a diaper," says Campbell. "Those are skills you learn by doing. Instead we talk about how changing diapers or giving baths are great ways to interact with your baby and how they promote attachment."

The Dad Classes also address issues around the tensions that some times arise when fathers become involved in a hands-on way. In fact, one adjustment Campbell made in the early days of the Dad Classes was that he added an additional class to the original four-week program - a class that included the Moms. "This helped us to address issues such as the different caregiving styles Moms and Dads have and how they have to learn how share the territory around caring for a baby.

In the past 15 years, an estimated 1800 to 2000 fathers have been through Campbell's course. He's also developed a six-part television series called Dads Under Construction, first broadcast in 1997. In 1998 he founded DadsCan, which launched one of North America's first websites for and about fathers. In 2005 Campbell's book, also called Dads Under Construction, was published by The Dundurn Group. He has also made numerous speaking appearances, written several articles and served as an advisor to FIRA's New Fathers Cluster.

Over the past few years Campbell has been looking for ways to take the Dad Classes to more communities. Recently, he teamed up with Tim Paquette, chairperson of the Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network (and partner in FIRA's Young Fathers Cluster) and secured a Trillium Foundation grant, which will fund a year of research to evaluate, update and improve the Dad Classes. "I have contact information for most of the dads who have been through the classes," Campbell explains. "We will invite some of them to come in for focus groups. We'll ask them what they remember about the classes, what was helpful, what was irrelevant and what impact participation in the classes might have had on their experience of early fatherhood.

An epidemiologist will help Campbell and Paquette analyze the data so it can be used to inform the updating and reorganization of the Dad Class curriculum.

This project represents the first of a three-phase plan to revitalize and reposition DadsCan, Campbell's website, which serves as the umbrella group for the Dad Classes. "We've also secured funding through a private foundation, which will allow us to redesign and update the DadsCan website," Campbell says. "I've been wanting to do that for several years, but I haven't had the funding."

The final phase will be to apply for funding to enable Campbell and Paquette to train facilitators in the "New Dad Classes." "Within three years we hope to be able to offer the classes in eight new communities," he says.

For more information contact Dr. Neil Campbell: Ph. 519-646-6100 neil@dadscan.ca http://www.dadscan.ca/ (includes information about how to purchase Dads Under Construction.)