WIC NE State & Local - Phase II

Appendix V. Phase II Pilot Script Invitation to Local Agency and Site

OMB Control Number: 0584-XXXX

Expiration date: XX/XX/XXXX

APPENDIX V:
PHASE II PILOT SCRIPT INVITATION TO LOCAL AGENCY AND SITE

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it ‎displays a valid OMB number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX. The time required to ‎complete this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, ‎searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of ‎information.

NOTE: The purpose of the follow-up call is to go over the details of the study previously provided in the FAQ, answer any questions, and recruit the LA/site for the pilot study. Although one conference call with both the LA and the site is preferred, we will schedule separate calls if necessary. The call will take about 30 minutes to complete. This is a suggested script and will be customized depending on if we are talking with the LA and site separately or with the LA and site together and on the types of questions asked.

Hi, my name is [Name] and I work for the Altarum Institute. We are one of the partners in the WIC Nutrition Education Study or NEST, and I am calling to talk with you about the study that is being conducted to evaluate the impact of WIC nutrition education. On the phone with me is [Name] from RTI International, another partner working with FNS on this study.

As I mentioned in my email, working with FNS, [Name of Site], part of the [Name of Local Agency], has been selected to be one of the six sites. The six sites were selected to provide representation across different caseload levels, geographic locations, and modes of delivering nutrition education.

Did you have a chance to read the FAQ that we sent you? [Respond appropriately; offer to email the FAQ if they didn’t get it.] In our call today, I wanted to share with you some information on the study and talk with you about your site’s participation in the study.

The findings from the study will be used to develop a methodology for conducting a future national study on the impact of WIC nutrition education on changing health outcomes, such as nutrition and physical activity. The study will last for about 1 year and will include two data collection components. The first component will include data collection with WIC participants, including surveys and focus groups. The second component will include data collection with site staff and observations of nutrition education delivery at your site. The study team will work with your site and local agency and, if necessary, your State WIC agency to obtain the required IRB approvals for conducting the study.

Before I tell you more about the study, I want to take a few minutes to verify some information that we have on your site. According to information previously provided in the surveys and interviews we conducted, your site [INSERT INFORMATION DESCRIBING THE BASIS FOR SELECTION, E.G., THE SITE HAS A STAFF/CLIENT RATIO OF X AND PRIMARILY USES GROUP EDUCATION, WITH SOME TECHNOLOGY-BASED EDUCATION, AND STAFF ARE HIGHLTY TRAINED IN PARTICIPANT-CENTERED EDUCATION TECHNIQUES, ETC. IF THERE HAVE BEEN SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES AT THE SITE, RTI WILL CONSULT WITH FNS AS TO WHETHER THE SITE SHOULD STILL BE ASKED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PILOT.]

Participant Enrollment/Recruitment

During study enrollment at your site, we will recruit about 135 WIC participants to take part in the study. Project staff who will be hired and trained by RTI will be stationed in the waiting room. These two individuals will screen participants for eligibility and obtain informed consent before enrolling participants into the study. Recruitment will take place in each site over a 6- to 8-week period starting [Month/Date]. Project staff will work closely with each site to reach a mutual agreement regarding the process for participant recruitment/enrollment/survey administration that minimizes participant delay of benefits and that accommodates the sites unique clinic flow and operations.

WIC staff will not be asked to enroll participants or administer the baseline surveys. However, it would be greatly appreciated if the site could post a study flyer in the clinic and hand out a study fact sheet to participants. The receptionist could pass out the study fact sheet when checking in participants or staff could give the fact sheet to participants at the end of the appointment. We would like to work with the clinic to conduct these activities for about a 4-week period the 3 months before data collection is scheduled to take place so as to alert clients about the upcoming study. Would either of these options and this timing work for your site?

We would also like to ask WIC participants to arrive at their next appointment 20 minutes early to potentially enroll in the study if they are found to be eligible and to complete the first part of the baseline survey. Would this be acceptable to your site? If not, could we ask them to plan for the recruitment and data collection to take approximately 20 minutes in addition to their appointment time?

If possible, we would also like for site staff to hand out the fact sheet when checking in clients during the recruitment period. Would this be acceptable to your site?

We understand the importance of not disrupting service delivery, so if a client is called to her appointment during the enrollment process, we will quickly wrap up so she can go to her appointment and ask her to return after her appointment to finish the enrollment process and complete the baseline survey. During enrollment, participants will be asked to fill out a 20-minute survey about their or their child’s nutrition and physical activity behaviors, with administration in Spanish taking a bit longer. Questions on baseline behaviors will be answered before the client’s appointment, and the remaining questions will be answered after their appointment.

We will work with you to determine the best approach for recruiting and enrolling participants so as not to burden your staff or interfere with service delivery. Also, we will need some space in your site to set up a small table, if possible, and will work with your staff on where best to set this up.

Do you have any questions about the procedures for study enrollment?

Participant Data Collection

Participants will be asked to fill out two more 20-minute surveys during the 12-month study period, with administration in Spanish taking a bit longer. Both of those surveys will be mailed to the participants so there will be no additional disruption to site activities. Participants will receive a $20 gift card for completing the first survey and a $15 gift card each for completing the second and third surveys, for a total of $50 in gift cards.

We also plan to conduct two focus group discussions with a subset of the survey respondents at the end of the 12-month study period. Each focus group will last about 90 minutes. We will not conduct the groups at your site; they will be held at a location that is convenient for your clients. Focus group participants will get a $50 gift card for taking part in the group discussion. WIC staff do not need to participate in the focus groups or assist in any way with conducting the focus groups.

Do you have any questions on the participant data collection?

Data Collection for Process Evaluation

The second component of the study includes a variety of data collection activities to collect information on the delivery of nutrition education at the site.

We will conduct a site visit to observe staff conducting one-on-one and group nutrition education. We will also collect information to describe the types of educational materials used. The site visit will take place at the beginning of the study in [Month]. One study team member will be there for a total of about 16 hours to observe staff over a 2- to 3-day period. Staff are not required to do anything for the observations—we will just be there to observe them.

While there, we will also conduct an interview with the site supervisor or other designated person to discuss your site’s nutrition education activities, which will include reviewing and, if necessary, updating the information provided in the surveys completed in [Month] of 2014. This interview will take about 45 minutes. We will conduct two 15-minute telephone interviews with this same person toward the middle and end of the 12-month study period to discuss any changes that have been made in the delivery of nutrition education. We will schedule these interviews at a time that is convenient.

Additionally, near the beginning of the study in [Month], we will conduct a survey of site staff who provide nutrition education. This survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. We will conduct a Web-based survey if your staff has Internet access; otherwise, we can provide paper copies for them to complete and mail to us. Finally, at the end of the 12-month study, we will request administrative data on a subset of study participants, about 30 people. This information will include whether the participant is high risk; the date of WIC visits; and, if available, whether nutrition education was provided. It’s expected that it will take each site about 2.8 hours to provide this information. We will provide additional information and discuss the feasibility of providing the administrative data closer to the end of the study period.

Do you have any questions on the data collection that will take place at the site and with site staff?

All the information provided by participants and site staff will be kept private. In any reports we prepare, participants’ and site staff members’ names will not be associated with their responses, although the report will identify the names of the six sites participating in the study. WIC participants’ participation in the study activities is voluntary, and if they enroll in the study, they can choose to drop out at any time.

We are excited about working with your site and local agency. It is important for your site to take part in the study to provide representation across different caseload levels, geographic locations, and modes of delivering nutrition education. Do you have any questions that I can answer?

Do you think your site would be interested in participating in this important study?

Yes  [Discuss next steps, identify point of contact, thank respondent, and conclude call.]

No  Are there any questions I can answer? What concerns do you have about participating? [Try to address concerns and be willing to adapt recruitment/data collection procedures to meet needs, as feasible, to address concerns.] [If site needs to think it over, let them know that you will follow up in 2 weeks to get their final answer and provide contact information for additional questions.]

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