Grant: Project Grant

The Fathers of the Next Generation (FOTNG) Steering Committee, in partnership with the Indigenous Diabetes Health Circle, Hamilton Regional Indian Centre, Six Nations Birthing and Social Services, fathers and Two-Spirit parents, and supported by a CIHR Indigenous Gender and Wellness Team grant, designed a parenting program to support the health and wellness of Indigenous boys/men and Two-Spirit people as they transition to their new parenting role. While building awareness about the program at numerous community initiatives across the country, we have received overwhelming support for the program, and requests for training to equip future facilitators to lead the program. This project is led by a team of community members, Elders, a Knowledge Holder, and parents, along with Indigenous scholars and academics with educational design expertise. Collaboratively, using Indigenous principles of education and learning, the team will develop a facilitator-facing eLearning course to equip Indigenous-led organizations to train their facilitators to deliver the FOTNG parenting program at their sites. The team will also design a communication strategy to effectively spread awareness of the FOTNG program and its accompanying facilitator eLearning across the country and beyond. Parent-directed programming is an important way to support youth, fathers and Two-Spirit parents in developing their gender-specific parenting roles, promoting healthy relationships, maximizing parent-child bonding, and optimizing the health of their children. Scaling up the FOTNG parenting program across Canada and internationally is essential to maximize these benefits. This project develops the fundamental infrastructure necessary to scale up and sustain the FOTNG parenting program nationally and internationally using a community-led approach.