DadBooster for Health Professionals: When and How to Recommend It

Why Recommend DadBooster?

Fathers experiencing depression or anxiety may be less likely to engage with conventional face-to-face mental health services. This can leave symptoms unrecognised or untreated at a time when fathers are also adjusting to changes in relationships, work, sleep, parenting responsibilities and family life.

Supporting paternal mental health matters not only for fathers themselves, but for partners, infants and the family as a whole.

DadBooster was developed to provide an accessible treatment option that addresses some of the practical and psychological barriers fathers may face when seeking support. It was adapted from PIRI’s established MumMoodBooster program and co-designed with Australian dads and dads-to-be to reflect fathers’ experiences of the transition to parenthood.

Learn more about why specialised perinatal mental health support matters and how treatment can be adapted to the particular needs of parents during pregnancy and early parenthood.

What Is DadBooster?

DadBooster is a free, six-session online CBT program for fathers experiencing depression, anxiety, low mood, stress or emotional difficulties during the transition to parenthood.

The program provides structured psychological strategies through an online format that fathers can access privately and complete at their own pace.

DadBooster includes:

• Six structured online CBT sessions
• Practical strategies for improving mood and managing stress
• Tools for identifying and responding to unhelpful patterns of thinking
• Strategies relevant to adjusting to fatherhood, relationships and family life
• Progress and symptom monitoring throughout the program
• Supportive SMS messages to encourage continued engagement
• Additional information and resources that can be accessed throughout the program
• Optional partner support

The program is designed to give fathers practical strategies they can apply in everyday life rather than simply providing information about depression and anxiety.

Who May Benefit From DadBooster?

DadBooster may be useful for fathers experiencing:

• Low mood or loss of enjoyment
• Symptoms of depression
• Anxiety or persistent worry
• Stress associated with adjusting to fatherhood
• Difficulty coping with changes in relationships, work or family life
• Reduced confidence in their parenting role
• Emotional difficulties following the birth of a baby

It may be particularly useful for fathers who prefer online support, have difficulty attending regular face-to-face appointments, live in rural or remote areas, are balancing work and family commitments, or would benefit from beginning structured psychological support while waiting for other services.

DadBooster can also be used alongside appropriate clinical care where this suits the father’s needs and treatment plan.

How to Recommend DadBooster

DadBooster does not require a formal referral process. Health professionals can recommend the program directly and fathers can register and begin independently.

A simple pathway is to:

1. Identify whether DadBooster may be appropriate. Consider the father’s symptoms, level of distress, preferences, circumstances and any barriers to accessing other forms of care.
2. Explain what the program provides. DadBooster is a structured six-session online CBT treatment developed specifically for fathers rather than a general wellbeing website or information resource.
3. Discuss how it may fit with his care. Depending on individual circumstances, DadBooster may be used as an online treatment option, alongside existing clinical care or while waiting to access another service.
4. Direct the father to DadBooster. He can register and begin the program himself without a referral or clinician registration.
5. Continue usual clinical care where appropriate. Recommending DadBooster does not change the health professional’s usual responsibilities for assessment, treatment, follow-up or risk management.

Access DadBooster:
www.dadbooster.com

How DadBooster Can Fit Into Clinical Care

Digital CBT can provide another treatment option within a broader stepped or collaborative approach to mental health care.

Depending on the father’s needs, DadBooster may be:

• Recommended as an accessible early treatment option
• Used alongside support from a GP, psychologist or other health professional
• Offered while a father is waiting to access another mental health service
• Considered when practical barriers make regular face-to-face treatment difficult
• Used by fathers who prefer the privacy and flexibility of online treatment

The level of clinical involvement should be determined by the father’s individual needs and the health professional’s usual scope of practice.

DadBooster Does Not Replace Clinical Assessment or Crisis Care

DadBooster is a psychological treatment program, but it is not a crisis service and should not replace appropriate clinical assessment, risk management or higher-intensity treatment when these are required.

Health professionals should continue to use their usual clinical pathways where there are significant safety concerns, severe or rapidly worsening symptoms, complex mental health needs, or other circumstances requiring more intensive assessment or treatment.

Where there is an immediate risk of harm to the father or another person, urgent assessment and emergency or crisis services should be used rather than relying on an online program.

What Fathers Can Expect

DadBooster consists of six online sessions based on cognitive behavioural therapy. Fathers work through practical activities and strategies intended to help them better understand their mood, manage stress and respond differently to unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour.

The online format allows fathers to work through the program privately and at times that suit their work and family commitments.

DadBooster also includes symptom and progress monitoring and supportive SMS messages designed to encourage engagement with the program.

Partner Support

Fathers using DadBooster can choose to invite their partner to access a dedicated partner website.

The partner component provides:

• Information about paternal depression and anxiety
• Guidance on supporting a father experiencing depression, anxiety or low mood
• Information to help partners look after their own emotional wellbeing

This recognises that a father’s mental health does not occur in isolation and that the transition to parenthood affects relationships and the wider family.

Evidence for DadBooster

DadBooster was developed from PIRI’s research and clinical experience in treating perinatal depression and from the established CBT framework used in MumMoodBooster. The program was adapted specifically for fathers with direct input from Australian dads and dads-to-be.

DadBooster has now been evaluated in a randomised controlled trial involving Australian fathers with postnatal depression. The trial examined outcomes including depression, anxiety, stress, negative thinking, relationship quality and parenting self-efficacy.

Recent findings from a randomised controlled trial of DadBooster have been reported as showing reductions in depression, stress and negative automatic thoughts, together with improvements in parenting self-efficacy. The resulting paper by Holt and colleagues is currently listed as in press in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

DadBooster is a postnatal treatment program developed for fathers experiencing depression, anxiety, low mood or stress after the birth of a baby. The program was developed within the broader context of supporting fathers through the transition to parenthood, and its strategies may be relevant to the challenges fathers experience during this period. The randomised controlled trial specifically evaluated DadBooster as a treatment for fathers experiencing postnatal depression.

Quality and Accreditation

DadBooster is an accredited digital mental health service under the National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health Standards.

The Standards provide a national framework for the safety and quality of digital mental health services in Australia, including requirements relating to clinical and technical governance, partnering with service users and models of care.

No Referral Is Required

Unlike PIRI’s MumMoodBooster and Mum2BMoodBooster Clinician Portal pathway, health professionals do not need to register with a clinician portal or generate a referral code for DadBooster.

Fathers can access and register for DadBooster themselves after the program has been recommended to them.

This makes DadBooster relatively simple to introduce within general practice, psychology, maternity and postnatal services, child and family health services, hospital care and other settings where fathers may disclose emotional difficulties.

Resources for Health Professionals

Health professionals can learn more about DadBooster on PIRI’s DadBooster program page.

For guidance on integrating DadBooster and PIRI’s other online CBT treatments into clinical care, see Using Online CBT Programs in Perinatal Care: A Guide for Health Professionals.

Brochures, flyers and supporting resources that can be shared with fathers are available from the DadSpace Resources page.

Health professionals can also direct fathers to DadSpace, PIRI’s online hub providing information, practical strategies and mental health resources specifically for fathers.

Recommend DadBooster

DadBooster provides health professionals with a free, accessible and father-specific online CBT treatment option for men experiencing depression, anxiety, low mood or emotional difficulties during the transition to parenthood.

No referral is required. Fathers can access the program directly and begin when they are ready, while continuing to receive other clinical support where appropriate.

Access DadBooster:
www.dadbooster.com