By Eduardo ChakoraCoordinator of the Technical Area of Men's HealthHealth Care Secretariat – Ministry of Health
The city of Rio de Janeiro hosted, from August 21 to 23, 2013, the 1st National Seminar on Fatherhood and Care in the SUS Network. The event, promoted by the Men's Health Technical Area of the Ministry of Health – responsible for conducting the Policy National Comprehensive Attention to Men's Health – was carried out in partnership with the Municipal Health Department of Rio de Janeiro, the Vida Committee, Instituto Papai and Instituto Promundo.
The general objective of this initiative was to problematize, in the national sphere of health services, the field of care practices and relationships involving men, women and children, from the relational perspective of gender and the diversity of current family configuration models.
To this end, the Seminar activities were linked to a central strategy called “Partner's Prenatal”, which consists of planning actions aimed at inserting the partner/companion into the routines of prenatal, childbirth and postpartum services available in the lines of care recommended by the Health Care Network of the Unified Health System.
By participating in the birth of a child, a man can guarantee better care for his partner, reduce the duration of labor and the occurrence of postpartum depression, among other benefits. This active participation can also bring positive changes for men in their most diverse sociocultural contexts.
With fatherhood comes new responsibilities and, consequently, new doubts and questions. In this scenario, the challenges that arise for the socialization and education of children from a gender-equitable perspective can be configured as transformative moments for these men, as well as a path to building healthy emotional bonds.
The Seminar featured six panels that debated the following topics:
• Fatherhood and Health Policies
• Why involve men in care actions?
• Fatherhood in families
• The different ways of being a father
• Movement to value fatherhood
• Good practices in parenting and care
Participants were also able to sign up for four workshops:
• Group of men: how to work?
• Father’s participation and humanization of birth
• Violence and family relationships
• Valuing fatherhood and the father’s partner health unit
The discussion groups and round tables were led by managers, health professionals, researchers and activists from organized civil society.
The proposal was to outline a strategy, define actions and implement them based on three work vertices: health education with groups of men, with the community and with professionals in health services in the states of the five Brazilian regions.
The event was also an opportunity to present experiences from the Unified Health System (SUS) in the context of valuing fatherhood. Among them are the Pai Partner Health Units, certified in 2012.
The cultural exhibition was organized by RAP da Saúde and the photographic exhibitions “Você é meu pai”, by Instituto Promundo, and “Um mundo de Pais”, by José Inácio Parente.
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