Father participation in the care of a critically ill child: a scoping review.
Rafaela Sterza da Silva, Cinara Bozolan Coppo, Edrian Maruyama Zani and 1 others
PMID 40298770WHAT IT FOUND
Fathers of critically ill children often remain secondary caregivers because work demands, gender expectations and hospital ward routines limit them.
Nurses can include fathers in care, education and support instead of treating the mother as the only parent.
Key findings
01Father participation was often limited by work demands, gender expectations and hospital ward arrangements.
02Fathers supported care through kangaroo contact, touch, visits, talking, and home routines such as feeding, hygiene, sleep and play.
03Having a critically ill child caused financial, professional, social and emotional strain for fathers and disrupted family functioning.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was designed to map evidence, not to test whether involving fathers improves care. The search was limited to Portuguese, English and Spanish, and some full texts could not be obtained. The reported Google Scholar page limit is inconsistent between methods and limitations. Most studies came from Brazil, so the barriers may not transfer to other health systems. The review included dissertations, theses, monographs and an undergraduate project, so some evidence may be less mature. The authors say paternal care and gender equality are rarely addressed, so the mapped evidence may be incomplete.
Declared interests
This work was supported by CAPES and CNPq through Universidade Estadual de Londrina. The article does not report conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the reported benefits of father involvement as proof that involving fathers improves child recovery. This scoping review maps themes from heterogeneous studies and does not test effects.