WIC Family Food Access Project, 2011

Final Report

Executive Summary

PowerPoint Presentation

 

Phase Two Presentations

• Team A:  Financial Access and Food Security
• Team B:  Physical & Geographic Access
• Team C:  Nutritional and Cultural Access
• Team D:  Data Compilation

 

Overview

Goal: Improve access to healthy foods in WIC families in targeted parts of south King County

Students will use mixed methods to assess the current status of WIC family access to healthy foods in selected neighborhoods in south King County.  Students will use the recent report on Access to Healthy Foods in Washington State and the results of the assessment to develop recommendations for improving food access for these families.  Project findings will be disseminated.

 

 Objectives of the WIC Family Food Access Project:  

1.      Assess the financial, physical, nutritional and cultural aspects of family food access in WIC families who are served by WIC clinics in the Highpoint, North SeaTac, and White Center neighborhoods.  

2.      Develop recommendations for policy changes to assure that WIC families have access to healthy foods.

The project will be divided into "deliverables."   Students will work on these deliverables in teams.

Deliverables

Phase One:  Assessment

All Students: Use IRB approved recruitment flyers and survey protocol to conduct interviews with WIC clients in the three clinics with a goal of getting completed surveys from at least 75 families in each clinic.

Phase Two: Prepare Background Material

A small sample of resources to get your started:

• Position of the American Dietetic Association:  Food Insecurity in the United States
• USDA ERS:  Food Insecurity in the United States Briefing Room
• King County Food and Fitness Initiative
• King County Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW)
• How Farmers Markets Can Promote Access to Healthy Food:A Look at How Population Groups and Farmers Markets Interact
• The Supermarket Gap: How to Ensure Equitable Access to Affordable, Healthy Foods
• The Search for Affordable Nutrient Rich Foods: A comparison of supermarket food prices in Seattle-King County
• Can low income Americans afford a healthy diet?

Phase Two Team A:  Financial Access and Food Security

Prepare a well referenced briefing paper that outlines:

·   The determinants of food insecurity in populations and households

·   Recommended interventions to address food insecurity

·   Basic information about the SNAP program:  what it is, recent trends in participation, participation rates, barriers and enhancers of participation,

·   Rates of food insecurity in the US and among high risk groups

·   Methods of assessing food insecurity, with an emphasis on what is known about the 6 question USDA instrument

Phase Two Team B:  Physical & Geographic Access

Prepare a well referenced briefing paper that outlines:

·   The determinants of physical & geographic access to healthy foods

·   Current knowledge about rates and trends of lack of physical and geographic access to healthy foods

·   Current knowledge about differences in food prices across food stores

·   Current efforts underway in south King County neighborhoods to improve access to healthy foods.  

·   Recommended interventions to increase physical and geographic access to healthy foods.

Phase Two Team C:  Nutritional and Cultural Access

Prepare a well referenced briefing paper that outlines:

·   Current knowledge about barriers to providing nutrient dense foods to households.

·   Current knowledge about role of cultural in food choice and limitations of access to culturally appropriate foods

·   Recommended interventions to assure access to affordable, nutrient dense and culturally appropriate foods for low income households

Phase Two Team D:  Data Compilation

1. Develop database to use to compile data from WIC family surveys.
2. Enter and verify results from  surveys using USDA's  Instructions on the use of the 6 item food security module.
3. Clean data and prepare general reports on distribution, mean, range, etc. as appropriate
4. Prepare map with indicators of sources of food used by respondents using Instructions for using Google map for this:
   • Log in to Google. Then go to "My Maps" and "Create a new map" that is public.
   • Zoom to locations of interest and right-click, then "Add a placemark," and edit the title and description.
   • Other icons can be selected by clicking the icon in the upper right of the same callout that allows editing of the title and description.
   • Icons can be added from URLs,.  Click for an example.
   • Once the map is completed, click "Done."
   • The maps can be shared by clicking the "link" in the upper right and copying the URL to an e-mail message, Click for a simple example.

 

Phase Three Deliverables Due March 15

1.     A full report of all the findings and recommendations:

• Analysis of the WIC client surveys:  key data presented visually, associations in the data explored, most data provided in tables or appendices
• Map of WIC family food access patterns
• Brief description of existing efforts in these neighborhoods to increase access to healthy foods
• Discussion of what the findings mean in light of what is known about financial, geographic, nutritional and cultural access to foods
• Recommendations for policy improvements to improve access to healthy foods and food security specifically for WIC clients in south King County
• Recommendations for how you might evaluate progress toward these policy improvements and their impact on families.

2.     A forty five minute PowerPoint presentation to Stakeholders for March 15th

3.     A one or two page briefing document with highlights of the findings and recommendations

 

Schedule

January 7	Introduction and Background Kari Fisher, MPH, RD & Nicole Flateboe, MPH, RD Public Health-Seattle & King County ppt presentation Introduction to WIC What are the characteristics of the three WIC clinics that will be the focus of this project? How will this project be helpful to nutrition initiatives in King County? How should students interact with clinic staff and WIC clients? Donna Johnson ppt presentation What are the components of access to healthy food and how do we measure them? What resources are good starting points for the project?  Expectations of students - "deliverables," due dates and level of commitment Human subjects concerns Evaluation of student performance Getting Organized for Phase One & Phase Two Each student commits & schedules for  3-4 clinic visits between January 7 and February 4. Divide into four teams for Phase Two deliverables Meet with fellow team members and determine action steps and responsibilities
January 14	Phase One: Data collection in clinics
January 21	Phase One: Data collection in clinics
January 28	Phase One: Data collection in clinics
February 4	Phase One:  Data collection in clinics Phase Two:  Teams A-D prepare deliverables
February 11	Phase Two:  Teams A-D prepare deliverables
February 18	Presentation of phase One findings & Phase Two Deliverables
February 25	Phase Three: Teams prepare final deliverables
March 4	Phase Three: Teams prepare final deliverables
March 11	Phase Three: Teams prepare final deliverables
March 15 10:30-12:20	Presentation to Stakeholders

 

Evaluation

	Points
Group
Each of products demonstrates comprehension and appropriate application of basic concepts learned in class for cultural competence, evidence based practice, practical program evaluation, and strong links between assessment finding and recommendations.	85
Organization and presentation of final products	15
Individual
Successful participation in steps of data collection, data compilation and analysis, and policy development	40
Role in phase one & two and final presentations	10
Rating of individual effort by other members of group:  Rating Sheet (please post to class dropbox:   https://catalyst.uw.edu/collectit/dropbox/djohn/13420	50
Total	200