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Strategies to improve enrollment in The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): examining high coverage states and leveraging successful COVID-19 pandemic adjustments.

MedStar author(s):

Citation: Public Health Nutrition. :1-5, 2022 Jul 22PMID: 35866330Institution: MedStar Georgetown University Hospital/MedStar Washington Hospital CenterDepartment: Community Pediatrics FellowshipForm of publication: Journal ArticleMedline article type(s): Journal ArticleSubject headings: IN PROCESS -- NOT YET INDEXEDYear: 2022 Local holdings: Available online from MWHC library: 1998 - present (after 1year)ISSN:

1368-9800

Name of journal: Public health nutritionAbstract: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an essential program in the USA providing food benefits and nutritional and breast-feeding support to low-income pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children at nutritional risk. Despite similarities amongst federal regulations shared across WIC programs at the state level, important differences in the operations, policies and technologies between states exist. Nationally, nearly half of women, infants and children who were eligible to receive WIC benefits in 2018 were not participating in the program. In this paper, we evaluate common practices exhibited by states with the highest and lowest WIC coverage rates to identify strategies that may improve enrollment and retention rates in regions with low WIC coverage rates. We use WIC as a case study for identifying strategies that can be broadly applied to improve utilisation of similar food assistance programs globally, particularly those benefiting low-income women and children. The four strategies discussed here include utilising data to check adjunctive eligibility and reach eligible non-participants, increasing public awareness of WIC through outreach and referral efforts, implementing a centralised smartphone app and linking personal electronic benefits and streamlining the use of technologies for online applications, participant portals and remote communication. In most states, the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal waivers issued in response have offered the opportunity to promptly implement some of these strategies, particularly with regard to remote communication capabilities. With proper resources and implementation, these strategies can improve utilisation of WIC and similar programs globally.All authors: Ganacias KG, Kuhn AG, Rethy JAFiscal year: FY2023 Digital Object Identifier:

https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1368980022001471

Date added to catalog: 2022-09-26

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 3 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Journal Article	MedStar Authors Catalog	Article	35866330	Available		35866330

Available online from MWHC library: 1998 - present (after 1year)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an essential program in the USA providing food benefits and nutritional and breast-feeding support to low-income pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children at nutritional risk. Despite similarities amongst federal regulations shared across WIC programs at the state level, important differences in the operations, policies and technologies between states exist. Nationally, nearly half of women, infants and children who were eligible to receive WIC benefits in 2018 were not participating in the program. In this paper, we evaluate common practices exhibited by states with the highest and lowest WIC coverage rates to identify strategies that may improve enrollment and retention rates in regions with low WIC coverage rates. We use WIC as a case study for identifying strategies that can be broadly applied to improve utilisation of similar food assistance programs globally, particularly those benefiting low-income women and children. The four strategies discussed here include utilising data to check adjunctive eligibility and reach eligible non-participants, increasing public awareness of WIC through outreach and referral efforts, implementing a centralised smartphone app and linking personal electronic benefits and streamlining the use of technologies for online applications, participant portals and remote communication. In most states, the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal waivers issued in response have offered the opportunity to promptly implement some of these strategies, particularly with regard to remote communication capabilities. With proper resources and implementation, these strategies can improve utilisation of WIC and similar programs globally.

English