Developmental Monitoring and Referral for Low-Income Children Served by WIC: Program Development and Implementation Outcomes

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Matern Child Health J
• Personal Author:
  Farmer, Janet E. ; Falk, Lee Walker ; Clark, Mary J. ; Mayfield, Wayne A. ; Green, Katie K.
• Description:
  Objective
  
  To develop, implement, and assess implementation outcomes for a developmental monitoring and referral program for children in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
  
  Methods
  
  Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. campaign, the program was developed and replicated in two phases at 20 demographically diverse WIC clinics in eastern Missouri. Parents were asked to complete developmental milestone checklists for their children, ages 2 months to 4 years, during WIC eligibility recertification visits; WIC staff referred children with potential concerns to their healthcare providers for developmental screening. WIC staff surveys and focus groups were used to assess initial implementation outcomes.
  
  Results
  
  In both phases, all surveyed staff (n = 46) agreed the program was easy to use. Most (≥ 80%) agreed that checklists fit easily into clinic workflow and required ≤ 5 min to complete. Staff (≥ 55%) indicated using checklists with ≥ 75% of their clients. 92% or more reported referring one or more children with potential developmental concerns. According to 80% of staff, parents indicated checklists helped them learn about development and planned to share them with healthcare providers. During the second phase, 18 of 20 staff surveyed indicated the program helped them learn when to refer children and how to support parents, and 19 felt the program promoted healthy development. Focus groups supported survey findings, and all clinics planned to sustain the program.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Initial implementation outcomes supported this approach to developmental monitoring and referral in WIC. The program has potential to help low-income parents identify possible concerns and access support.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Child Female Focus Groups Food Assistance Health Personnel Humans Infant Poverty Program Development Referral And Consultation
• Keywords:
  Developmental Delay Or Disability Developmental Monitoring Early Identification Health Disparities WIC
• Source:
  Matern Child Health J. 26(2):230-241
• Pubmed ID:
  34988863
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10249725
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01DD001007/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  26
• Issue:
  2
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e402f59c922e7b428bf44b61ecf2f0ab4f35c34168a5c1f6d9044de65f57c3a7dc2dc3bf34b6bd51640cf3c8f050fdbfc617c46660d6340af9ab779c0c5c11cb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/129650/cdc_129650_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 614.50 KB ]