DadPad launches, News

News: Support for new and expectant dads in Coventry

Posted on 1st March 2024

DadPad launches, News

News: Support for new and expectant dads in Coventry

Posted on 1st March 2024

We’ve been a bit quiet on here for a few months now – mainly because we’ve been incredibly busy – but we’re hoping to get back with blogs and social media posts again now.

And this week is a great week to get re-started, as we’re delighted to share that we’ve relaunched this Monday in Coventry, with their content being one of the first to move over onto our new app platform.

DadPad app for Coventry

Coventry are one of three apps that we’ve designed and developed with the Children’s Community Services commissioning team within South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.  The other apps – for Warwickshire and Solihull – will also be relaunching and moving onto the new app platform during the coming months.

We first launched in this area back in 2021, and Nadine Anderson – who is a Specialist Health Visitor for Parent and Infant Mental Health at the Trust, and our chief commissioning contact – provided us with an overview of the past few years:

We recognise the important role of fathers in supporting positive family wellbeing and, as a result, Health Visiting services in Coventry and Warwickshire have commissioned DadPad, making the app FREE to all fathers in the area.

We started with a one-year commission, and feedback from parents and professionals alike was really positive, so that was very encouraging. The following year, we signed a contract for a further five years because we so value DadPad and the impact it is having in our area.

We are continually working with other health professionals and local services to spread the word about DadPad; the earlier dads get to hear about DadPad, the more prepared and supported they feel.

The new DadPad app platform

The new app platform is something that’s been in development at DadPad – in partnership with the fab team at Multivitamin Studio, in Cornwall – for some time, as a response to the feedback that we have received from dads, professionals and others about additional features that they would like to see in the future.

Building upon the platform of our existing app, which has been in place now for nearly five years, it’s been exciting to start to see our vision of how things could be made even better come to life.

We’ll put together a more detailed blog or two in the coming months, with additional information on the new app platform, but some of its key features will eventually* include:

  • all the basic baby care and early parenthood information, tips and advice, together with information on local and national support groups, services and helplines, all of which has always been part of the original app, but now with additional images plus searchable and saveable content, which will make for a more personalised learning process;
  • a dedicated ‘community groups’ section for dads to connect, ask questions and share their experiences, helping to foster knowledge sharing and facilitating the exchange of valuable advice and experiences that’s an integral part of the journey of any new parent;
  • links to opportunities for further and deeper reading, via our dedicated ‘Ask DadPad’ blog posts, for those dads who want to know and learn more about a particular topic; and
  • the opportunity to view the main DadPad content in a range of different languages, thus helping to increase the accessibility of the information.

* NB. Some of these features will be added in over the coming months.

The new app platform started out on its six-month pilot phase in Torbay, where the Torbay Council/Action for Children’s app has been live since November.  We added in another renewing area – Gloucestershire – back in January and, as everything’s going well so far, we’re going to be slowly adding more apps onto the new platform over the coming months, before starting the gradual full roll-out over the summer.

Here’s what Nadine thought of the new platform:

The new app content is helpful for parents for, not only the practical tasks of caring for a baby – such as bathing, changing a nappy etc – but also serves as an opportunity for fathers to get support for their own emotional wellbeing. Working in such a diverse area of the country, it will be great to have the app translated into nine of the most needed alternative-to-English languages.

Hard copy guides

As with many other DadPad app areas, the Warwickshire commissioning team have also purchased a further bundle of hard copy guides – including DadPads and Quick Read DadPads, plus their complimentary copies of the Co-ParentPad – to support their local offer.  Nadine explained about the availability of these books across the region:

Parents can request a hard copy of the DadPad from their Health Visitor, or a copy of the ‘easy read’ version. The team at DadPad have also been really innovative in terms of thinking about access for the LGBTQI+ community, and have developed a hard copy Co-ParentPad.

I, personally, find DadPad to be a wonderful resource; I like to carry a hard copy with me so that I can show the dads that I am working with what DadPad is all about, and encourage them to download the app.  Dads that I have worked with appreciate the content and that there is a specific resource that speaks to the uniqueness of them as they transition to fatherhood.

 

Father-inclusive support pathway

And the exciting news for new dads in Coventry is that it’s not just the DadPad resources that are there to support them: good friend of DadPad, Scott Mair, is leading on a new project in the local area – Fatherhood Solutions. Scott explained to us what he and his team will be doing:

Having been commissioned by Coventry City Council, we’re going to be developing a father-inclusive pathway, through Family Hubs and perinatal mental health services, which is designed to provide comprehensive and tailored support to fathers and which acknowledges the unique challenges and opportunities men encounter in the parenting journey.

We’ll be developing a range of peer support services, including one-to-one sessions, which can be accessed via either professional or self-referrals, and online groups for dads.  There will also be training for family workers and Family Hubs’ staff, looking at dads’ needs, and working with and speaking to dads.

We hope that, by integrating fathers into the fabric of Family Hubs, Fatherhood Solutions will be able to create an environment that understands and addresses the specific needs of fathers, contributing significantly to the overall wellbeing of both fathers and their infants.

The project is currently in its early stages, with the referral programme starting up at the end of April.  In the meantime, the team will be starting to get to know local families within the Family Hubs, and your next opportunity to catch up with them will be at the various World Book Day-related events taking place next week.

From Coventry Family Hubs.

Further information

For more information on Fatherhood Solutions, please visit their website or follow them on Twitter.  You can also email their project administrator to find out more: krandall@ipip.com.

For more information on the Family Hubs across Coventry, please visit their website.

And for more information on the Coventry Family Health and Lifestyle Service (0-19 years), which includes the local Health Visiting, Infant Feeding, School Nursing, Stop Smoking in Pregnancy and Be Active Be Healthy teams, as well as the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP), please visit their webpage.

To download the DadPad app for Coventry (or any other area of the country where it’s available), please visit https://thedadpad.co.uk/app/ and follow the instructions.

 

Family Hubs in Coventry

https://www.coventry.gov.uk/familyhubs

Aspire Family Hub 

Families for All Family Hub

Harmony Family Hub

The Moat Family Hub

Park Edge Family Hub

Pathways Family Hub

Wood Side Family Hub