The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in almost every sector of our society, from business to education to health care. Still, technology remains underutilized in the American Safetynet program. This misses the opportunity to help those in need during times of serious difficulty.
Majors such as the Special Supplementary Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), a federal food assistance program that serves 6.2 million pregnant, breastfeeding, postpartum women, infants and children under the age of five. Public health initiatives are pandemics, especially in color communities where the risk of food insecurity is already imbalanced. Participants are among the biggest health and economic challenges of the last 25 years, such as direct purchase of WIC-eligible foods, registration or attendance of direct recertification clinic appointments to maintain eligibility, and other important program issues. I had a hard time accessing the benefits as the elements became more and more difficult. Blockage, food shortage, closure of agency clinics.
To keep the program running during this national crisis, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted an emergency exemption that allows many WIC services to be provided remotely. However, the temporary nature of these exemptions may limit the ability of programs to continue to meet the needs of current generation WIC participants (millennials and Gen Z parents) who are tech-savvy and social media oriented. There is sex.
Efforts to update the WIC program with client-focused technology began in 2010 with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. By October 2020, the law required WIC’s distribution of food benefits to shift from cumbersome and stigmatizing paper vouchers to electronic benefit cards (EBTs). Later, research found that WIC institutions that did not transition to EBT by that date experienced high turnover rates during the pandemic. This further emphasizes the importance of modernizing WIC, the program that nourishes our future. Almost half of all babies in the United States participate.
Increasing registration and retention with WIC is more important than ever. During the pandemic, hunger and economic instability increased significantly. It is estimated that in 2020, as many as 45 million people, including 15 million children, experienced food insecurity. In addition, childhood obesity rates have increased during this period.
For over 45 years, WIC has served as an essential resource for low-income households providing access to health foods, breastfeeding counseling, nutrition education and referrals to other medical services. The survey shows many positive health benefits for WIC participants, including food insecurity, lower infant mortality, and lower health care costs. Nutritionally endangered babies and children participating in the program improved cognitive development and growth rates. Studies have also shown that childhood immunization rates are significantly increased and that regular medical institutions associated with participation in WIC are available.
However, despite WIC’s track record of performance, the program faces challenges. In 2019, only 57% of eligible individuals participated in WIC. Surprisingly, as children grow up, fewer people participate in the program, and it drops sharply after infancy. While 98% of eligible babies are enrolled in WIC, less than 25% of eligible 4-year-olds participate and receive benefits. Increasing program retention should be a priority and it helps to integrate new technologies into WIC.
A few years ago, the leader of the WIC Health and Technology Initiative (a project at Harvard TH Chan Public Health School, MIT Media Lab, New America) convened public health, nutrition, design and technology experts to intervene in “wired”. Has been identified. With the best technology available, WIC is exploring a variety of opportunities to leverage mobile phones, apps, the Internet, social media, text messages, video conferencing and other platforms. Recommendations include simplified program management, facilitating registration, improving attendees’ shopping experience, providing online education, innovating service delivery, reducing high turnover from WIC, SNAP, TANF, Medicaid and more. Included a technology solution for seamless mutual registration of participants in the Federal Assistance Program. ..
When first introduced, the proposed WIC changes seemed to be ahead of the curve, but the COVID-19 pandemic urged us to create a more user-friendly and technology-enabled WIC program. It has increased. Some of the initiatives and recommendations of other organizations have since been implemented by USDA or are currently in pilot.
Early feedback suggests that families enrolled in WIC welcome a hybrid model that combines face-to-face and digital services. During the pandemic, participants were highly satisfied with phone bookings (96%), interactive text messages (96%), online education (94%), email (93%), and video bookings (80%). I reported. However, certain WIC features, including point-of-care services, such as checking infant hemoglobin levels and breastfeeding mothers, can be optimally managed when retained as a face-to-face service.
Online ordering is the next frontier for updating your WIC shopping experience. That way, participants can buy food in the same way that many other Americans shop today. Three new USDA projects involving multiple WIC agencies have begun piloting e-shopping and mobile orders. However, current WIC regulations currently prohibit online purchases, so their widespread adoption is limited.
USDA has announced that it will begin rulemaking this spring to integrate online orders and transactions into the program. Another step that has gained widespread support in the WIC community is to codify the pandemic era exemption through the legislative pathway, which has provided greater flexibility in managing the program. Doing so opens the door to new digital strategies for enrolling eligible participants in WIC, taking advantage of food benefits with mobile pay and home delivery, recertifying beneficiaries, and delivering services remotely. there is a possibility. Digitally formalizing mutual registration using a common portal with other federal support programs such as SNAP and Medicaid is another way to facilitate registration and extend the impact of WIC. Eliminating bureaucratic silos through interoperable platforms and data sharing between these programs can streamline the enrollment process for qualified people and facilitate coordination across key US health and nutrition federal support programs. increase.
Fortunately, the American Rescue Plan has invested $ 390 million in WIC’s outreach, innovation, and modernization. However, more resources are needed to fund the research and development of the technological infrastructure of future programs. It is important that all technologies implemented in WIC must prioritize the privacy and security of participants and be linguistically and culturally sensitive.
This public health crisis has given us the opportunity to modernize WIC. As the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes, WIC’s continued success lies in the ability of programs to adapt to serve new generations of beneficiaries through the addition of user-friendly digital platforms and services. Depends. Now is the time to strengthen the program as a key factor in ensuring that all children have a fair and just opportunity to start a healthy life.
Lessons learned during the pandemic are more “wired” WICs to better address family needs, reduce food insecurity and obesity, increase equity, and promote the health of all people today and in the United States. It provides the foundation for building programs. A few years away.
Rear Admiral Susan Blumentall, MD, MPA (ret.), Former US Assistant Surgeon President, Senior Fellow of Health Policy in New America, Visiting Professor at the MIT Media Lab, and Clinical Professor at Georgetown University and Tufts University. medicine. Emily Stark is a New American Health Policy Researcher. Walter C. Willett, MD, Dr. PH is a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
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