Barriers to the use of WIC services

To identify barriers that deter parents/caretakers of infants and children enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) from taking full advantage of the services provided by the program. A total of 3,167 parents/caretakers at 51 New York State WIC lo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2004-05, Vol.104 (5), p.736-743
Main Authors: Woelfel, Mary Lou, Abusabha, Rayane, Pruzek, Robert, Stratton, Howard, Chen, Shu Guang, Edmunds, Lynn S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
barriers to participation
barriers to service
Caregivers
Caregivers - psychology
Child care
Child Health Services - utilization
Child, Preschool
Consumer Behavior - statistics & numerical data
Dietary Services - utilization
Female
Food Services - utilization
Health services
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Low income groups
Male
Maternal Health Services - utilization
Mothers - psychology
New York
Nutritional Sciences - education
Parents & parenting
participation
Pregnancy
Program Evaluation
social barriers
surveys
Time Factors
United States
WIC Program
Women
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Summary:To identify barriers that deter parents/caretakers of infants and children enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) from taking full advantage of the services provided by the program. A total of 3,167 parents/caretakers at 51 New York State WIC local agency sites completed a barriers survey. Sixty-eight potential barriers to WIC were identified through a literature review, five focus groups with parents/caretakers of WIC participants, and an expert review panel. The barriers survey was administered person-to-person to parents/caretakers of infants and children on WIC. Classification tree analysis was used to identify characteristics that best predict WIC check usage behavior. A small set of barriers (n=11) were identified by more than 20% of respondents. Waiting too long was the most frequently cited barrier (48%). Difficulties in bringing the infant/child to recertify and rescheduling appointments were key variables associated with failure to use (ie, pick up or cash) WIC checks. Further analyses indicated that (a) for each additional reported barrier, there was a 2% increase in failure to use WIC checks (P
ISSN:0002-8223
2212-2672
1878-3570
2212-2680
DOI:10.1016/j.jada.2004.02.028