(OR23-06-23) Early Experiences With Telehealth for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Perspectives From Three State Agencies

Objectives: The implementation of telehealth solutions for healthcare services accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted in-person nutrition support for mothers, infants, and children. The objective of the USDA/Tufts Telehealth Intervention Strategies for WIC (THIS-WIC) Project is to implement and evaluate telehealth solutions beyond phone-based appointments in routine WIC services to provide nutrition education and breastfeeding support.

Methods: An online quantitative survey (Tufts Qualtrics) was distributed to WIC staff at local agencies from three State Agencies during the first month of intervention implementation. Survey questions were structured to gauge the level of acceptance, utilization, usefulness, and user experience for telehealth intervention amongst staff drawing from existing reliable survey instruments (e.g., Telehealth Usability Questionnaire). Survey response options were scored using a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree).  

Results: A total of 121 WIC staff across 17 intervention sites (i.e., WIC clinics) completed the survey. The survey findings showed that 51% of the respondents utilized telehealth solution in their service provision in the first month of implementation, of these, 89% used it with nutrition education and 81% used it with breastfeeding support. Only 15% of WIC staff had any prior experience of using telehealth. Around 41% of staff ranked telehealth as the preferred option for nutrition education and 35% for breastfeeding support. More than 60% of staff indicated high acceptance and ease-of-use for telehealth and 40% indicated strong agreement for its usefulness and their self-efficacy in using telehealth. Many respondents (87%) expressed agreement that telehealth increased accessibility for both WIC staff and clients. Major challenges highlighted in utilizing telehealth were connectivity issues for client and technical difficulties with the solution.

Conclusions: Early impressions of using telehealth amongst WIC staff show positive results indicating the usefulness and acceptance of telehealth solutions, especially in providing nutrition education. In addition, given that at least 50% of staff respondents indicated using telehealth at WIC clinics demonstrates potential for its use in nutrition education.

Funding Sources: This work is funded by the USDA.