DadPad Community Groups Guidelines

Introduction

Welcome to the DadPad Community Groups – an online space where you can share your lived-experience of pregnancy, birth and parenthood with other dads and dads-to-be.

This is a dedicated space for you to ask questions relating to new parenthood and to help answer questions from other new and expectant dads.  With access to expert health professionals across the UK, we will be able to help out with evidence-based knowledge and skills advice to support you on your journey as new dad.  This will also help us collectively build a valuable bank of first-hand insights into, and experiences of, fatherhood in the UK.

What you ask and share in the DadPad Community Groups may be used by:

  1. Other dads – to support their ongoing parenting journey;
  2. The team at DadPad – to support us to continue to update and develop our dad-focused learning resources (contained within this app and in our hard-copy DadPad guidebooks), as well as to generate ideas for new blog posts and provide us with insight into the current concerns and worries of new and expectant dads across the UK. We will do this by using what you share in these Community Groups to identify specific themes, issues, and gaps in service – both locally and nationally – through regular evaluation of the questions being asked and the answers being offered;
  3. Perinatal healthcare professionals and NHS service providers who have commissioned DadPad for their area (“our commissioners”) – to support their understanding of how their funding is helping dads and of what they can do to improve the services that they offer.
  4. Charities, support groups, pressure groups, researchers and/or other experts working in the dad-focused/new parent world (“our stakeholders”) – to support their understanding of the issues and concerns facing new and expectant dads across the UK today.

From time-to-time, alongside the non-personal data that we periodically share with our commissioners and stakeholders, DadPad may also use anonymised quotes taken directly from the Community Groups to ensure that dads’ voices are being heard clearly alongside the collected non-personal data we periodically share.

To find out more about our commitment to protecting you and your personal data we collect, please read our Privacy Policy.

Community Groups Rules

We want dads from all walks of life to feel comfortable using the DadPad Community Groups and we are committed to ensuring the safety of all our app users. Therefore, the following rules have been put together to help you understand the boundaries of these Community Groups:

  1. Language – we all have different ways of communicating with others, but to make it as easy and safe as possible to understand one another, please refrain from using acronyms or text-speak (please write in full, plain words – e.g. ‘to be honest’, instead of ‘tbh’), and avoid overly-complicated terminology or jargon, slang or swear words.
  2. Behaviour and attitude – name-calling, putting others down, being negative, teasing, harassing, bullying, trolling, promoting violence, or any other hateful discussions towards other users/communities will not be tolerated by DadPad.
  3. Constructive conversations – ranting, venting, slating, moaning, and complaining for the sake of it, without offering feedback or ideas on what could be done to change or prevent your experience from happening again, is not appropriate or constructive in this space, and won’t be helpful or useful to anyone else. After all, most services have legitimate complaints procedures and should always be used in the first instance.
  4. Protecting vulnerable, marginalised or minoritised individuals and communities – degrading comments relating to matters including a person’s age, (dis)ability, gender, race (including colour, culture, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sexual orientation, or identity will not be tolerated. Such instances will be addressed swiftly by DadPad Moderators in accordance with UK laws covering protected characteristics. All dads are equally welcome in this community.
  5. Marketing – DadPad is very careful about the services and products it aligns with, in order to protect our service users. Please do not use these Community Groups as a platform to self-promote, advertise, or spam people with your own services or products. If you’re not sure, please speak to one of the DadPad team first.
  6. Confidentiality and safeguarding – sharing specific details about yourself that could be used to identify or locate you and your family, or taking things ‘offline’, could put you or someone else at risk. Please do not share personally-identifiable information about yourself, your family or other people you know with other service users in these Community Groups. We have a duty to act on safeguarding concerns where a vulnerable adult or child could be at risk of harm.

 

Engagement Guidelines

  • Be respectful – it’s important to hear and learn from different people/communities and to respect each other’s differences. Even if you don’t agree or identify with what someone is saying, that doesn’t mean that what they are sharing isn’t relevant or useful to other people/communities. If a question isn’t relevant or applicable to you, then please scroll on and save your input for elsewhere.
  • Take responsibility for your words and actions – Your personal lived-experience matters, and you can take ownership of what you share with DadPad by starting questions/answers with words like: “I am/I feel/I think…”. It’s important to remember that your experience may not be relevant to everyone, so please avoid speaking on behalf of others or making generalised statements.
  • Be considerate – everyone has ups and downs on a day-to-day basis and may interact differently depending on what’s going on in their life. Before asking a question or providing an answer, consider first how you are feeling, and consider how your question/answer could make others If you are feeling low, negative, reactive, angry, or emotional, then it’s best for everyone if you save your input for when you feel calmer, more in control, balanced and happy.
  • Be clear – sometimes less is more, so always try and keep your questions and answers short, to-the-point and free of jargon and acronyms.
  • Ask for help – if you aren’t sure about how to navigate this space or feel that you need additional support, please contact the DadPad team. We’re happy to help where we can and to provide signposting to sources of further support, if required.
  • Learn from others – this space is an opportunity to learn from the lived-experiences of others, and to share your own. Everyone’s experiences are valid and valuable, so add your input where you feel able and take your time to explore themes you aren’t familiar with when you can. You don’t need to answer every question that comes up or need to have something you want to ask yourself – it’s OK to just read and reflect.
  • Know when to step back – if someone else’s communication is bothering you, or you are struggling to effectively communicate yourself, take a step back and have a break from the app.
  • General expectations – your posts should be appropriate, supportive, and kind. We will allow the odd light-hearted post, conversation-starter, or announcement, but there should be no ‘mum-bashing’, bad language, or conspiracy talk, and do please always try to be positive.

Protecting vulnerable, minoritised and marginalised individuals and communities

DadPad considers all new parents to be vulnerable, but there are certain groups who are particularly at risk of being misunderstood, mistreated, or exploited. In recognition of this, DadPad is committed to working with vulnerable individuals, groups, and communities to ensure that there is a ‘level playing field’ for all in terms of equity of support and provision of evidence-based information. This includes amplifying the voices of all those in our DadPad Community Groups and highlighting to existing services and service providers the gaps in their provision. The goal is to assist in filling those identified gaps with possible solutions that result in the provision of fair and equitable perinatal services for all.

Moderation

Sometimes people can say and do things that are upsetting, offensive, harmful, or discriminatory. There are many reasons why this might happen, and not every user is aware of the consequences of their actions or behaviour. This is why DadPad’s Community Groups are moderated by human moderators from Monday-Friday, 9.00am-5.00pm, to support the experience of every app user.

Our app DadPad Moderators are there to:

  • ensure that the app is running smoothly, to provide the best user-experience;
  • approve new questions and support those asking them to communicate in a clear and inclusive way, and to stay within these Community Groups Guidelines;
  • check that answers are communicated in a clear and inclusive way, and stay within these Community Groups Guidelines;
  • participate in the community, to ensure that users’ questions are answered fully, and to provide additional signposting to verified information and support where appropriate;
  • ensure that all parties within the Community Groups can safely share without fear of being judged or treated differently, especially where differing experiences and views are being expressed;
  • ensure that those responsible for or involved in identified instances of conflict or poor language, behaviour and attitudes understand the consequences of their actions and have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes/rethink their approach; and
  • ensure that those who are affected or harmed as a result of those identified instances of conflict or poor language, behaviour and attitudes are appropriately supported.

In the event that a user fails to learn from their mistakes or to change their approach, DadPad will act swiftly to remove them from the app platform to maintain the overall safety of the Community Groups.

NB. Our Moderators always intend to act in a non-judgemental and non-condescending manner and do not mean in any way to appear confrontational or to try and cause offence. It is also not the intention of the Moderators to be authoritarian; their role is to follow the Guidelines, as set out in this document, from a place of care and compassion. That said, from time to time, the DadPad Moderators will have to intervene when these Guidelines are breached and will need to act appropriately to protect the members of the DadPad Community Groups.  As Moderators are human, we will no doubt occasionally and unintentionally make a mistake or cause offence; we commit to learn from any such situations that occur, and to apologise and make reparation where needed. We thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation.

 

How to report a problem

If you experience any problems using this app and/or the Community Groups, you can report them via email: hello@thedadpad.co.uk. Raising our attention to issues helps the DadPad Moderators deal with things in a timely way and to access external guidance, where appropriate, before making any decisions or changes.

 

Your experience matters

These Community Groups Guidelines will change and adapt as the DadPad app community grows. The best way to ensure that our Community Groups Guidelines are fit for our audience is to co-create them with those that are using our platform. Therefore, if you would like to discuss these Guidelines, share your ideas, or give feedback, please contact us via email: hello@thedadpad.co.uk.

The most recent update was made to these Community Group Guidelines on 21 November 2023.