ResearchOriginal ResearchA Qualitative Exploration of Predominantly White Non-Hispanic Tennessee WIC Participants’ Food Retail and WIC Clinic Experiences During COVID-19
Section snippets
Data Collection
A sample of adults living in WIC-participating households were recruited by phone and text message from an established WIC subject pool using purposive, then snowball, sampling methods.18,19 Participants who met the following inclusion criteria were invited to participate in the study: lives in WIC-participating household, primary food shopper for their household, 18 years or older, and willing and able to complete a phone interview for approximately 1 hour in English. A total of 27 people were
Participant Sample
Characteristics of the participants are summarized in the Table. Participants were primarily White, non-Hispanic women who had completed at least some post-secondary education. Although most of the sample reported not participating in government assistance programs other than WIC, most households screened as having food insecurity. Several participants reported a change in household income due to COVID-19.
Primary Themes
Five primary themes emerged from the interviews, including shopping barriers (existing
Discussion
This study presented the first empirical data investigating the perceived impact of COVID-19 on the daily lives of families who participate in the Tennessee WIC program and their experiences in WIC food retail and with their WIC clinics. The participants in this study were sociodemographically similar to other studies conducted with Tennessee WIC program participants,32, 33, 34 which is similar to the overall WIC population where the research was conducted.
This study identified dynamic,
Conclusions
This study explored the experiences of WIC families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is creating additional barriers to food security and negatively affecting the health and well-being of WIC families. To meet the needs of this vulnerable population during and beyond the pandemic, WIC participants in this study suggested the carryover of WIC flexibilities (ie, physical presence and food package substitution waivers) after COVID-19 to enhance the ease of overall program
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the study participants for sharing their COVID-19 experiences.
Author Contributions
All of the authors were involved in the conceptualization of the study and study design, development of methods, interpretation of findings and preparation of the manuscript. M. McElrone managed data collection, management, and analysis. All of the authors have reviewed and approved the complete manuscript. M. McElrone wrote the first draft with contributions from M. C. Zimmer and E. T. Anderson
M. McElrone is an assistant professor, Department of Health and Human Performance, The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.
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Cited by (14)
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participant Grocery Store Purchases during the COVID-19 Pandemic in North Carolina
2024, Current Developments in NutritionA Qualitative Examination of California WIC Participants’ and Local Agency Directors’ Experiences during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic
2022, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsCitation Excerpt :These findings that remote services have been well received by WIC participants and would benefit participants to maintain a hybrid model in the future are consistent with two other states, Tennessee and Washington, and Los Angeles County, that evaluated WIC participant experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.8,10,11 The Tennessee study evaluated 24 WIC participants’ experiences during the early part of the pandemic and found that the carryover of WIC flexibilities, such as physical presence and food package substitution waiver, would improve WIC program participation.10 These findings are also consistent with a study of 52 Washington WIC staff and 40 WIC participants that found that both participants and staff were satisfied with remote services during the pandemic.11
Insights from Washington State's COVID-19 Response: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of WIC Remote Services and Expanded Food Options Using the RE-AIM Framework
2022, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsCitation Excerpt :Furthermore, having multiple coders code a subset of the transcripts, discuss discrepancies, and collaborate on themes enhanced the data triangulation process49,50 and confirmability of these results.26 The participant sample also captured a diversity of perspectives about the programmatic changes.36 Finally, in line with principles of rigor in qualitative research, the research team shared a preliminary synthesis of the results with WA WIC staff participants and discussed whether the findings resonated with their experiences.26
M. McElrone is an assistant professor, Department of Health and Human Performance, The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.
M. C. Zimmer is a Cancer Research Training Award Fellow, National Cancer Institute; at the time of the study, she was a graduate student, Department of Public Health, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
E. T. Anderson Steeves is an assistant professor, Department of Nutrition, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This study was internally funded by The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.