WIC Nutrition Education

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

In early 2021, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health WIC, Phoenix, Arizona, started the Facebook 2nd Nutrition Education Pilot. The purpose of the pilot was to use an innovative approach to provide subsequent nutrition education by developing nutrition education modules offered on social media. If participants chose to complete their nutrition education using this format, they would access the online platform, select the desired module topic, and complete the self-paced nutrition education module. The objectives were to decrease no-show rates (online module had a 86.8% completion rate), increase the percentage of participants completing their nutrition education on time (91.3% completion rate within 7 days food benefits expiring), increase retention rates (84.3% of participants completed the next appointment), provide more flexibility and convenience for the participant, and reduce burden on staff. After completion, 42.2% of participants chose to complete a survey on their experience. Survey questions included ease of completing the online module (97.4% reported strongly agree or agree); interest in the nutrition topic (97.6%); if it was easier to complete the appointment online versus other formats (95.7%); and preference to complete future appointments online (96.3%).