Are fathers involved in diabetes management? A rapid review

Abstract

This rapid review aimed to synthesise the evidence on father involvement in managing their child's type 1 diabetes. We identified eight articles from EBSCO, Science Direct, Academic Search Premier, Psyclnfo, PsycArticles, and Google Scholar. Studies were included if they provided information on fathers' involvement in diabetes management, were published between 2010 to 2020 in English as full-text peer reviewed articles, and employed qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods. Following thematic synthesis, findings indicated that fathers were directly involved in blood glucose checking and planning of diabetes management tasks, and indirectly in terms of finances, general care of the child, and advocating in schools for children living with diabetes. These findings suggest fathers involved in the management of their child's diabetes were critical to successful management, although the voices of fathers in this context may be neglected.