Fathers' beliefs about parenting and fathers' clubs to promote child health in rural Haiti.

Health care providers are challenged to use culturally appropriate, low-technology approaches to improve child health in resource-poor countries. Village fathers' clubs is one approach used in rural Haiti since 1994. Fathers meet regularly for health education and community-building activities. Our aim was to investigate parenting practices and beliefs among Haitian fathers of young children and to explore their views on fathers' clubs. We conducted semistructured interviews with 18 fathers. Themes identified were fathers' involvement in routine care of their children, the close partnerships of fathers and mothers in child care, fathers' responsibilities to their communities, and fathers' clubs as an important supportive institution for the Haitian fathers and their families. Rural Haitian fathers reported taking a very active role in the lives of their families and children. Increased involvement of fathers should be explored as a strategy to improve child health and survival in other parts of Haiti and throughout the world.