WIC NE Individuals/Household - Phase II

Appendix JJJ.1: Phase II Participant Focus Group Moderator—English

APPENDIX JJJ.1:
PHASE II PARTICIPANT FOCUS GROUP MOderator—ENGLISH

As shown in the grid below, there are three distinctions of the types of questions asked during the focus group which are color coded on the guide

Ask for feedback from all participants (blue)	1,2,3 7a,7b, 8(part 1),8a 9 10,10a (part 1) 11 12 (part 1), 12a 13 14
Ask for one or two volunteers to explain their answer and then ask if anyone else had a different experience and ask them to share (green)	4,5,6 12 (part 2) 12b 16
Open questions to the group (yellow) Ask for anyone that wants to share and if necessary follow up with probes of “who feels the same” or “who feels differently or had a different experience”	7,7c,7d,7e 8 (part 2), 8b,8c,8d 9a,9b,9c 10a (part2),10b 11a,11b,11c 12c,12d,12e 13a 14a 15 17-23 (and all subsequent questions)

WIC Nutrition Education Study
Phase II Participant Focus Groups—English Moderator Guide

Date of group:
Site number:
Facilitated by:		Recorder:
Number of participants:
Start time:		End time:

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Introductory Script for Full-scale Study

Welcome! My name is_____, and I am here with my co-worker________. Thank you for taking the time for this group discussion. It is really important to hear your thoughts about the information you get from WIC on health and healthy eating for you or your children. This is sometimes referred to as nutrition education. Our discussion today will last about an hour and a half.

We work for Altarum Institute, and our work focuses on helping improve the nutrition and health of children and families. We do not work for WIC, but we are talking with you today because the WIC program asked us to learn about WIC nutrition education from WIC participants.

We will be using first names only today. Everything you say during this session is private. After we conduct several of these group discussions, we will write a report for the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA. The Food and Nutrition Service is the federal office that oversees the WIC Program. Your name will not appear anywhere in the report. Nothing said today will be attached to your name at any point. Nothing that you say will affect the services you receive through WIC or any other public assistance programs.

Your input in this discussion group will provide us with valuable feedback on WIC nutrition education. The purpose of today’s group is to hear from you about your own experiences and satisfaction with WIC nutrition education. We will use the information to identify ways for improving WIC nutrition education to better serve the WIC families in your community and those in other communities like yours.

Before we begin, I would like to review a few details about our discussion:

• There is no right or wrong answer to any question I ask. Remember that we don’t work for WIC, so please feel free to say whatever you think. No one at the WIC office will know what you have said.

• Also, it is okay to have ideas or opinions that are different from each other. We want to hear everyone’s point of view.

• It would be helpful to have only one person talking at a time. We are tape recording this session so that we don’t miss anything important. If two people talk at once, we won’t be able to hear your valuable input. We may remind you of this during the group discussion.

• We would like everyone to participate. But you each don’t have to answer every question. You don’t have to raise your hand either. If we really want to know what you think about a particular question, we may ask you what you think.

• We will be taking notes during this discussion and will tape record the session so that we can capture all of your good thoughts. At the completion of the study, the audiotapes will be destroyed.

• I want to emphasize what I said earlier: we will be using first names only. Everything you say is private. What you say today will not be attached to your name at any point. Nothing that you say will affect the WIC benefits you receive.

Our group discussion will last no more than 90 minutes. We will not be taking a formal break, but if you need to leave for a restroom break, the bathrooms are _____________. And feel free to get snacks.

As a thank you for participating and to help you with any child care or transportation costs for this meeting, you will receive a $50 gift card at the end of the discussion. Accepting this gift will not affect any WIC or other public benefits you get.

For this session, I will read a question and then listen to your responses. I also may ask follow-up questions to get some more detail.

Do you have any questions before we begin?

Let’s get started! I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

[FACILITATOR’S NOTE: It is helpful to go in order of how the group is sitting. This will allow the note taker to label responses by person. Also for note taking you can then label person 1, person 2, person 3, etc. for writing comments.]

Introductions/Icebreaker

I’d like to start out by going around the room having each of you share some things about yourself.

1. First, tell us your first name and the first names and ages of any children you have; if you’re pregnant, tell us when your baby is due.

2. Second, please tell us your favorite food.

3. And third, please tell us how long you or your children have been receiving WIC.

I’ll start..my name is.. and I have…and my favorite food is…

Experience with Nutrition Education at WIC Visits

During our time together, we are going to talk about details of your WIC visits so we can learn what is most useful to you and how to make the visits better. Please help me understand how WIC visits work. Every WIC office is different, so it will help me to hear from you what happens at the WIC office you go to.

4. Can you please describe the steps of your last WIC visit? Start at the beginning when you arrived at the office.

5. What was most helpful to you during that WIC visit?

6. How did this visit compare to other WIC visits?

Now, let’s talk about your most recent visit to WIC when either you or one of your children got recertified, which usually happens every 6 to 12 months, or, if you are new to WIC, when you first enrolled. This would be a visit where you had to bring proof of address or income to make sure you can be on WIC. Do you know which visit I’m talking about? [Make sure participants understand that you are referring to recertification/enrollment]

7. In this visit you would have talked one-on-one with a WIC staff person about health or healthy eating for you or your children. What did you talk about?

Probes:

a. Who decided what to talk about?

b. Who did most of the talking?

c. Did you feel like you got a chance to talk about the things you wanted to talk about or not? Why do you say that?

d. Do you feel like all your questions were answered or not? [If no, what did you want to talk about that you didn’t get to talk about?]

e. Overall, do you feel like the WIC staff person listened to you or not? Why do you say that?

8. Do you remember if you chose something to work on at that visit? For the rest of the discussion, we will call what you chose to work on a “goal.” [If yes, what goal was set?]

Probes:

a. Who set the goal—you or the WIC staff person?

b. How was the goal chosen?

c. Did you talk about what would be hard about reaching the goal? [If yes, was the WIC staff person helpful in talking with you about any challenges and how to handle them?]

d. Did you work on the goal after your WIC visit? [If yes, tell me about that.]
[If no, why not?]

Now, let’s talk about your most recent visit with WIC when you were not signing up for WIC for yourself or a child. This would be a visit when you did not have to bring proof of your income or address. These visits are sometimes called nutrition education visits, nutrition classes, mid-certification visits, or check pick-up. What do they call those visits at your WIC office?

[Facilitator: use the visit term used by the participants]

9. Did this [term used for visit] include talking with a WIC staff person about healthy eating, physical activity, or breastfeeding? [If yes, describe what happened at that visit; for example, a one-on-one session with a WIC staff person, a group class with other people, or something else.]

a. What did you talk about?

b. How long did you spend talking about health or healthy eating?

c. Were you able to ask questions or talk about things you wanted to talk about? Why or why not?

10. If you had a goal, did a WIC staff person ask you at this visit how things were going in reaching your goal or if you wanted to set a different goal?

a. Did a WIC staff person ask about any challenges you were having in reaching your goal? [If yes, did she or he talk with you about how to handle these challenges?]

b. What are some examples of ways that WIC has helped you reach your goals?

Use of Reinforcers and Internet Education

Now let’s talk about written material like pamphlets or newsletters or other items that you got from WIC about health or healthy eating. [Facilitator: show some examples of print material or items, e.g., measuring cups, obtained from the WIC site.]

11. Have you looked at or used the items that you took home?

a. [If no] Why not?

b. [If yes] Which of these has been most useful to you? Why?

c. [If yes] How much time did you spend using these materials at home?

d. What other kinds of materials or items would you like to get from WIC to take home?

[For sites that have Internet nutrition education] I understand that your WIC office has an Internet tool called [insert name used by site for the Internet system]. This tool… [describe tool.]

12. Have any of you used the [insert name used by site for the Internet system]?

[If yes] Can you please tell me how it works?

Probes:

a. How many times have you used it?

b. Where did you use it?

c. What topics did you learn about?

d. How long did it take to finish the Internet lesson?

e. Was the information helpful to you or not? Why do you say that?

f. Would you use it again? Why or why not?

Changes Participants have Made

13. Now let’s talk about changes you have made to try to be healthier. Think about the past 6 months. If you have been on WIC for less than 6 months, then think about the time since you’ve been on WIC. Have any of you made changes in how you eat or feed your children during this time?

a. [If yes] What changes have you made? [Probe if not mentioned: eating more fruit and vegetables, eating more whole grains, drinking lower fat milk]

14. Have any of you made changes in the past 6 months/since on WIC in how much exercise or physical activity you or your children get?

a. [If yes] Please tell me about the changes.

15. Has anyone made another healthy change they want to tell us about?

16. Thinking about the changes you have made, has anything that you’ve learned at WIC been helpful in making them?

a. [If yes] Please tell me what has been helpful.

Satisfaction and Recommendations for Improvements

For the last part of our time together, we want to hear your suggestions for improving WIC nutrition education. Now is your chance to help WIC be as good as it can be!

17. What ideas do you have for ways you would like to receive nutrition information from WIC?

Probe:

a. For example, would you like group activities, food demonstrations, nutrition activities for children?

b. Would you like to get text messages with nutrition information?

c. Would you follow WIC on Facebook or Twitter?

d. [If the WIC site doesn’t use Internet nutrition education] Would you like to use the Internet to get WIC nutrition education?

18. Now think about the one-on-one nutrition sessions you’ve had with WIC staff.

a. What do you like about these sessions?

b. What don’t you like about these sessions?

c. How could WIC improve one-on-one sessions?

19. [For sites that offer groups sessions] Now think about the group nutrition classes you’ve had at WIC.

a. What do you like about these sessions?

b. What don’t you like about these sessions?

c. How could WIC improve the group sessions?

20. Think about the information you get on nutrition and healthy eating at WIC. In general is the information new to you or not?

a. If information is not new, did you find it useful or not?

b. Do you feel like the information you get at WIC applies to you or not? Why or why not?

21. If you have children, do they usually come with you to WIC?

a. If yes, does it make it hard or easy to listen to the information provided?

22. In addition to what we have already talked about, what activities or changes would you like WIC to consider for making the nutrition education you receive more useful and meaningful to you?

23. Do you have anything else you would like to share about the nutrition education you receive at WIC?

CLOSING

Thank you very much for participating in this discussion group today. We have learned a lot from your experiences and suggestions.

JJJ.1-7