SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1539190

Strategies for men's engagement and its effectiveness in improving child health and immunization -A rapid review

Provisionally accepted
Sarah NabiaSarah Nabia1Myra BetronMyra Betron1Elizabeth Arlotti-ParishElizabeth Arlotti-Parish2Amanda VarnauskasAmanda Varnauskas2Chinelo NwokeabiaChinelo Nwokeabia3Angioha PiusAngioha Pius4Jean MunroJean Munro5Katharine BagshawKatharine Bagshaw6Chizoba Barbara WonodiChizoba Barbara Wonodi1*
  • 1Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • 2Jhpiego, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • 3Nnamdi Azikiwe university Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria
  • 4Direct Consulting and Logisitcs Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
  • 5Gavi, Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 6United States Agency for International Development, Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

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Despite widespread evidence and recognition that women bear the disproportionate burden of caregiving, there are major gaps in action geared towards equalizing this burden of care between men and women especially in the context of child health and immunization. The goal of this rapid review is to identify and summarize effective and promising strategies for men's engagement in child health and immunization in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) and further categorize the strategies into its potential for gender transformative outcomes. We searched PubMed, Embase and CINAHL databases for peer-reviewed literature and identified grey literature sources through key informant interviews. Twenty-seven papers and/or documents were included in the analysis. Data analysis was done through narrative synthesis, and results have been presented using the various levels of the socio-ecological model (SEM). Majority strategies were at the "intrapersonal" level of SEM and focused on individual education and awareness building through one-on-one or group communication approaches and practical training. Efficacy of these strategies was measured using various indicators such as knowledge and perception levels, paternal-infant attachment, biological marker levels, and paternal behavior. Joint / shared couples' decision-making was the only gender

Keywords: Child Health, Immunization, gender, Low-and-middle income countries, program implementation, Systematic review Default Paragraph Font, Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Font color: Auto Formatted: Default Paragraph Font

Received: 11 Feb 2025; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Nabia, Betron, Arlotti-Parish, Varnauskas, Nwokeabia, Pius, Munro, Bagshaw and Wonodi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Chizoba Barbara Wonodi, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material