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

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“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
Resources The website’s initial start-up costs were supported by an operational adjustment grant requested from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service Midwest Regional Office. Six of the Midwest States (Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin) collaborated in the development and pilot-testing of the project, with the WIC Division of the Michigan Department of Community Health serving as the lead agency. Currently, all ten states contribute money to keep the website up to date and make translations as needed. The project received a special project grant from USDA to add the new fruit and vegetable modules. The website is maintained and updated by Dr. Bensley’s staff at Western Michigan University. Languages Used English and Spanish; Possibility Arabic and Chinese in the future Populations Served White, Black/African American, and Latino WIC Participation by Race/Ethnicity White: 57.7% Black/African American: 28.5% Latino: 11.6% Asian/Pacific Islander: 1.5% American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.7% Website www.wichealth.org “I love being able to do this online, it saves me time, and if my son is sick, I don’t need to worry about him making other people sick. Also, I don’t need to worry about a need for a sitter, as well as him getting bored or if he is crabby.” -WIC Participant Contact Information Judith Anderson Manager, Nutrition Services Unit and WIC Nutrition Coordinator Nutrition Program and Evaluation WIC Division MI Department of Community Health 320 South Walnut Lansing, MI 48913 (T) 517-335-8957 (F) 517-335-8835 andersonjv@michigan.gov Making WIC Work for Multicultural Communities: Best Practices in Outreach and Nutrition Education 44
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Page 6 and 7: Introduction This guide highlights
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Page 12 and 13: Families Growing Healthy with WIC (
Page 14 and 15: The California State Agency careful
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