@article{ref1,
title="Parents Working Together: development and feasibility trial of a workplace-based program for parents that incorporates general parenting and health behaviour messages",
journal="BMC public health",
year="2016",
author="Wilson, L. and Lero, Donna and Smofsky, Allan and Gross, Deborah and Haines, Janet",
volume="16",
number="1",
pages="e1154-e1154",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Parenting programs integrating general parenting and health behaviour messaging may be an effective childhood obesity prevention strategy. The current study explored workplaces as an alternate setting to deliver parenting programs. <br><br>METHODS: This study involved two phases. The objective of the first phase was to explore interest in and preferred delivery mode of a workplace program that addresses general parenting and health behaviours. The objective of the second phase was to adapt and test the feasibility and acceptability of a pre-existing program that has been successfully run in community settings for parents in their workplace. To achieve the first objective, we conducted 9 individual or small group qualitative interviews with 11 workplace representatives involved in employee wellness/wellness programming from 8 different organizations across Southwestern Ontario. To achieve the second objective, we adapted a pre-existing program incorporating workplace representatives' suggestions to create Parents Working Together (PWT). We then tested the program using a pre/post uncontrolled feasibility trial with 9 employees of a large manufacturing company located in Guelph, Ontario. <br><br>RESULTS: Results from the qualitative phase showed that a workplace parenting program that addresses general parenting and health behaviour messages is of interest to workplaces. <br><br>RESULTS from the feasibility trial suggest that PWT is feasible and well received by participants; attendance rates were high with 89 % of the participants attending 5 or more sessions and 44 % attending all 7 sessions offered. All participants stated they would recommend the program to co-workers. Just over half of our parent participants were male (55.6 %), which is a unique finding as the majority of existing parenting programs engage primarily mothers. Impact evaluation results suggest that changes in children's and parents' weight-related behaviours, as well as parents' reports of family interfering with work were in the desired direction post-intervention; however, confidence intervals substantially overlapped zero. Contrary to expectations, parents also reported an increase in restrictive feeding practices. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that a workplace-based program that addresses general parenting skills and weight-related behaviours may be a feasible way to engage and educate parents, including fathers. A full-scale trial is needed to examine the effectiveness of this approach.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-2458",
doi="10.1186/s12889-016-3817-z",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3817-z"
}