Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Feminist research has identified gender and sex differences in illicit drug use patterns and treatment needs,resulting in improved health services to mothers using illicit drugs. However, the research pertaining to fathers using illicit drugs is sparse. Research about fathers' illicit drug use is important, partly because their exclusion from services may affect mothers' willingness to access and remain involved with addictions health services before, during and after pregnancy. Excluding fathers from health services may therefore negatively affect infants', mothers' and fathers' health. My recently conducted pilot study, though based on small samples, revealed that mothers' involvement with addictions health services throughout the pregnancy was positively correlated with father involvement. Mothers said they wanted the fathers of their babies to be included, and fathers described feeling "left out." Professional health care providers interviewed for the study agreed that involving fathers was important, and cited service design, knowledge and training as obstacles in involving fathers. Using the results from the pilot study as a guide to refine the study design, the proposed study will obtain much larger samples of drug-using fathers and pregnant mothers, resulting in more comprehensive information about their patterns of involvement in addictions health services throughout mothers' pregnancy. For this study, information about fathers, mothers and services will be collected using both quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (interview) research methods. Using both of these methods together enhances the nature and type of knowledge gained about service needs of fathers and mothers. This study could assist addictions health services in making important changes in both the content and delivery of services for pregnant mothers and their partners, resulting in improved health and social outcomes for infants, mothers and fathers.