Context FathersÕ contributions to the management of long-term childhood medical conditions are under-represented in the literature; therefore, the full extent of their involvement is poorly understood by practitioners and researchers, so strategies for promoting their involvement have not yet been fully considered.Objective To review studies of fathersÕ actual contributions in a wide range of conditions, the potential to optimize their contribution through additional interventions by health professionals and a direction for future research.Design Narrative review of the literature.Methods CINAHL, Medline, PsychInfo and ERIC databases were searched electronically between the years 1995-2008. The terms adherence, adjustment, child, chronic, compliance, concordance, condition, coping, disease, father, illness, information, long-term, management ⁄ intervention, mother, role, self-care and treatment were searched for separately and in combination. English language papers reporting primary research were selected and supplemented by handsearching reference lists. Thirty-five papers (arising from 29 studies) met criteria and were selected for narrative review.Results Five themes were identified: (i) the impact of long-term conditions on fathersÕ ability to promote their childÕs well-being, (ii) factors influencing fathersÕ involvement in health care, (iii) personal growth ⁄ beneficial effects for fathers, (iv) the impact of fatherÕs involvement on family functioning and (v) strategies that increase fathersÕ participation in their childÕs health care and in research investigating fathersÕ participation.Conclusions The review suggests that fathersÕ involvement in childrenÕs health care can positively impact on fathersÕ, mothersÕ and childrenÕs well-being and family functioning. A range of strategies are identified to inform the promotion of fathersÕ contributions and future research investigating their input.
