755 - WIC 101: An Educational Intervention to Promote Trainee Confidence and Knowledge of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children

Publication Number: 3731.755

Jennifer O. Lambert, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Glen Allen, VA, United States; Molly Kuehn, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Izabele Scovil, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States; Yue Wang, Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD, United States; W. Christopher Golden, JohnsHopkinsU, Baltimore, MD, United States; Amit Pahwa, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Sean Tackett, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Susan M. Gross, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States

Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a public health nutrition program for pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age five years in families with lower incomes. WIC participation is associated with reduced food insecurity, enhanced dietary quality, and improved health outcomes. However, only approximately half of eligible individuals participate in WIC. Inadequate WIC knowledge among clinicians may contribute to WIC underutilization.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a brief video educational intervention on WIC on clinical trainees' 1) knowledge of WIC, 2) confidence discussing and referring families to WIC, and 3) confidence completing a WIC medical documentation form.

Design/Methods: We used Kern's six-step approach to collaboratively develop a 15-minute video curriculum on WIC (WIC 101) that was delivered during scheduled educational sessions for pediatric resident physicians, preventive medicine resident physicians, and nurse practitioner (NP) students. We used identical pre- and post- surveys to measure WIC knowledge (total correct on 33 items) and confidence (2 items, 1-4 ordinal scale) and used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to evaluate for pre-post differences. Follow-up surveys administered 1-4 months after WIC 101 evaluated whether participants discussed or referred families to WIC or completed a WIC medical documentation form.

Results: Among 95 eligible participants, (60 pediatric residents, 9 preventive medicine residents, and 26 NP students), 73 (76.8%) completed pre- and post- surveys . Participant knowledge of WIC increased from 74% pre-intervention to 89% post-intervention (p < 0.001). Participant confidence discussing and referring to WIC increased from 2.7/4 (SD 0.8) pre-intervention to 3.5/4 (SD 0.5) post-intervention (p < 0.001). Participant confidence completing a WIC medical documentation form increased from 2.6/4 (SD 0.9) pre-intervention to 3.7/4 (SD 0.5) post-intervention (p < 0.001). Follow-up surveys (n=46, participation rate 63.0%) showed that among participants who interacted with any WIC-eligible patients, 60.0% (n=21) discussed or referred to WIC and 35.5% (n=11) completed a WIC medical documentation form.

Conclusion(s): A brief educational video on WIC was feasible to implement for clinical trainees during scheduled educational sessions and improved knowledge of WIC, confidence discussing and referring families to WIC, and confidence completing a WIC documentation form. Future research should explore whether WIC education for clinicians results in increased participation in WIC among families in their care.

Table 1- Participation by Trainee Type


Table 2- WIC Knowledge and Confidence Pre- and Post-Intervention
There were significant increases from Pre-Intervention to Post-Intervention in WIC knowledge, confidence discussing and referring to WIC, and confidence completing a WIC medical documentation form.