Making WIC Work for Multicultural Communities - Food Research ...

“Happy, Healthy, Active Children”
For example, in the physical activity module “Happy, Healthy, Active Children,” participants are
asked if their child undertakes planned and/or unplanned physical activities, such as walking, bike riding,
dancing, and active games. Participants who answer “no” are reassured that they are not alone.
Respondents are then asked if they have an interest in someday changing their child’s lack of physical
activity. Those who answer “yes” are then asked if they are willing to do so in the next few days.
Possible responses include “yes” and “I’m not sure.” Participants who answer the latter are asked what
barriers stand in their way. A few of their options include TV watching, lack of time, and lack of ideas
about active games for their child. If participants select “TV watching,” they are provided with a simple
factsheet about how to turn off the TV and increase physical activity.
Project Evaluation
The steering committee has quarterly, mid-year, and yearly
evaluation results assessing the website’s effectiveness from
2002 to 2008. The yearly 2008-2009 evaluation results are
forthcoming. The website includes a feedback page, and 95
percent of all participant responses to date have been
positive. The 2008-2009 six month evaluation provides
important information about the project’s challenges as well
as ways in which the web education can be improved.
Lessons Learned
In addition to a high level of user satisfaction, the evaluation results show 65.6 percent of Wichealth.org
user were in the maintenance stage of behavior change. These results are not consistent with previous
knowledge of the population. This inconsistency may be the result of response bias associated with the
yes/no staging questions used to categorize user into stages of change and WIChealth.org has begun
replacing yes/no staging questions with multiple choice questions to ensure accuracy in stage
assignment. Accurate staging will improve the likeness of users showing behavior change progression.
The inconsistency may also be the results of low website usage among clients in the pre-contemplation,
contemplation, and action phases. It may be necessary to implement strategies to attract WIC clients in
earlier stages of change to access the website and
“Thank you for the
opportunity to take this
class in my own time
without interference from
my children.”
-WIC Participant
“One of the main challenges
is getting local WIC agencies
to promote the Internet.
When they don’t think
participants have access, we
do a survey to see if they
do.”
-Judith Anderson
The evaluation results shows that among users in the precontemplative
stage 45.4 percent advanced to the action phase by
the end of their session and that 92 percent of users who began in
the action or maintenance phase indicated they could make changes
using what they learned. These results demonstrate that
Wichealth.org is effective in promoting health behavior and
continued use and further expansion to other states is
recommended.
While Wichealth.org is effective in promoting behavior change amongst most users some still report
resistance to change. Most users reporting unwillingness to make changes based on what they learned
report that the information covered was not applicable to them at that time. These results suggest that it
may be necessary to use screening questions to recommend appropriate modules for users based on
their current needs.
Spanish language module users did not rate the usability of WIChealth.org as highly as English language
users. While 78 percent of English language module users indicated that WIChealth.org was their favorite
way to receive nutrition education fewer of the Spanish language module users felt the same way. Sixty
three percent Spanish language module users indicated they prefer class or group session nutrition
education at a WIC clinic. These results indicate that it may beneficial to develop interactive tool on
WIChealth.org to promote a sense of community and facilitate social networking.
Making WIC Work for Multicultural Communities: Best Practices in Outreach and Nutrition Education 43