227127 Understanding the Impact of History and Culture on African American Fatherhood

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 12:58 PM - 1:12 PM

E. Hill De Loney, MA , Flint Odyssey House Inc., Health Awareness Center, Flint, MI
Cleopatra Caldwell, PhD , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Jasmine Darrington Ward, MPH, CHES , Department of Human Studies, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Ama Achampong , School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
When developing programs involving fathers using a community-based participatory research approach within African American communities, understanding the experiences of fatherhood from historical and cultural perspectives is essential. Dating back to slavery, African American men have shared unique and complex relationships with their families. The common practice of selling African family members to other plantations resulted in entire families being separated, often isolating the African American father. This fragmented familial system persisted until the late 1800s when slavery was abolished. From the early 1900s to mid 1960s there was an increase in African American marriages, resulting in approximately 70% of African American children born to married couples. Today only 27% of African American children are born to two-parent families. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the role of history and culture in the development of the Fathers and Sons Program, which involved a CBPR approach in the design of this youth risky behavior preventive intervention for African American boys. The program focuses on influencing the attitudes and behaviors of nonresident African American fathers and their preadolescent sons. Examples of how historical and cultural experiences were incorporated into program development will be shared, along with data representing the meaning of contemporary fatherhood in the voices of the 158 families participating in the program.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the role of history and culture in the lives of contemporary African American fathers and sons. Identify the challenges of developing relevant intervention programs for African American fathers and their sons.

Keywords: Intervention, Culture

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Because I am the Community Principal Investigator for the intervention program that will be described. I am also an expert on African American history and culture.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.