{"title":"WIC Peer Counselors Support Breastfeeding Among WIC Participants.","authors":"Lisa Wagner, Carolyn A Phillips","doi":"10.1177/01939459241252547","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, is associated with improved health outcomes for participants. The role of WIC Peer Counselors was created to support breastfeeding among WIC participants.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This Naturalistic Inquiry study explored the perceptions and experiences of 9 WIC Peer Counselors located in Southeast Texas.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The WIC Peer Counselors were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling and participated in semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Data collection, analysis, and trustworthiness adhered to established guidelines.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Study findings revealed the novel approaches the WIC Peer Counselors used to encourage, initiate, support, and sustain WIC participants' breastfeeding, including using tools of their craft, involving and educating family members, making themselves accessible 24/7, and identifying the need for equipment and supplies.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The WIC Peer Counselors' understanding of the breastfeeding culture of their WIC clients and their unique ability to establish and maintain rapport with them make WIC Peer Counselors ideally suited resources to meet the WIC goal of increasing breastfeeding and thereby improving the health of the nation. Health care providers should recognize the valuable, yet unrecognized and underutilized, contributions of WIC Peer Counselors and consider referring pregnant and postpartum dyads to WIC for breastfeeding education and support.</p>","PeriodicalId":49365,"journal":{"name":"Western Journal of Nursing Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11181721/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Western Journal of Nursing Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01939459241252547","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/5/7 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, is associated with improved health outcomes for participants. The role of WIC Peer Counselors was created to support breastfeeding among WIC participants.
Objective: This Naturalistic Inquiry study explored the perceptions and experiences of 9 WIC Peer Counselors located in Southeast Texas.
Methods: The WIC Peer Counselors were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling and participated in semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Data collection, analysis, and trustworthiness adhered to established guidelines.
Results: Study findings revealed the novel approaches the WIC Peer Counselors used to encourage, initiate, support, and sustain WIC participants' breastfeeding, including using tools of their craft, involving and educating family members, making themselves accessible 24/7, and identifying the need for equipment and supplies.
Conclusions: The WIC Peer Counselors' understanding of the breastfeeding culture of their WIC clients and their unique ability to establish and maintain rapport with them make WIC Peer Counselors ideally suited resources to meet the WIC goal of increasing breastfeeding and thereby improving the health of the nation. Health care providers should recognize the valuable, yet unrecognized and underutilized, contributions of WIC Peer Counselors and consider referring pregnant and postpartum dyads to WIC for breastfeeding education and support.
期刊介绍:
Western Journal of Nursing Research (WJNR) is a widely read and respected peer-reviewed journal published twelve times a year providing an innovative forum for nurse researchers, students, and clinical practitioners to participate in ongoing scholarly dialogue. WJNR publishes research reports, systematic reviews, methodology papers, and invited special papers. This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).