Running head: WIC ACTIVITY SUMMARIES 1

Summary of Activities at WIC Rotation

Kacy Shaffer

Fontbonne University
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AT WIC 2

Activities 1

I spoke with Dorian about WIC. She explained that the mission is to improve the health

of women, infants, and children who have financial need and nutritional risk. She shared some of

their goals, one of which was increasing the percentage of women who breastfeed. I chose to

base my health communication project off this goal.

Activity 8

Dorian explained that the USDA funds WIC. They receive the amount of money for the

number of women, infants, and children who they serve. If they serve less than anticipated, they

get less money, but if they serve more, they can get more money to cover the costs. Dorian also

said they sometimes get grants, but most of the funding is from the USDA.

Activity 13

I used Facebook for the health communication intervention to increase breastfeeding

among the participants.

Activity 14

The WIC nutritionists use a standard nutrition assessment for the clients. They ask

several questions related to nutrition, food safety, screen time, and physical activity. It is set up

like an online charting system that the nutritionists type into as they ask questions to the clients.

Some examples of the questions in the assessment include: How many servings of fruit does the

child get per day? How many servings of vegetables does the child get per day? How many

hours of screen time does the child get per day? How many minutes of physical activity does

the child get per day? Does the mother/child eat the following: raw/undercooked meat, lunch

meat, hot dogs, fresh dairy, fresh fruit or vegetable juices,

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AT WIC 3

Activity 15

Each day, I sat with the WIC nutritionists in their offices. There were two nutritionists at

the Florissant location and I went back and forth between them. They would have me sit at their

desk and do the nutrition assessment and set goals with the clients. It was interesting seeing the

diversity of choices that the different mothers would make for their children. Some were very

concerned about making healthy choices, some thought that their children were just fine, some

had very little knowledge about health and nutrition. It gave me some good experience with

health behavior and motivational interviewing.