Cell Phones, Internet, and Apps: Who’s Using What in WIC?

Abstract

ObjectiveAssess cell phone, internet, and app usage among WIC participants.Theory, Prior Research, RationaleEmail, internet, smart phones, and apps all provide an opportunity to connect WIC participants with the program as well as enhance program evaluation. Understanding how many participants use each technology and under what circumstances will help WIC optimize future technology-based education and administrative projects.Study Design, Setting, Participants, and InterventionA representative sampling of 17 Oregon Local WIC Agencies administered a hard copy survey (HC) to participants (English/Spanish) during a 1-week period. An email link to an electronic version of the survey (ES) was sent to participants having an email address in the data system.Outcome, Measures and AnalysisSurvey results were analyzed for differences between ES and HC respondents.ResultsMore than 30% of respondents had either a basic cell phone or no cell phone at all. While only 3% of ES respondents said they hardly ever look things up on the internet, 18% of English HC respondents and 50% of Spanish respondents reported this. Only 7% of HC and 13% of ES respondents used a grocery or nutrition app. Even among ES respondents fewer than 8% reported using their cell phone to scan UPC’s or QR codes. The ES survey yielded a non representative sample.Conclusions and ImplicationsElectronic technologies hold great potential for connecting WIC with program participants. However, relying solely on email addresses to gather information from WIC families may skew results. Additionally, while some WIC families are ready to use smart phone or internet tools to interact with WIC, a significant number still have limited contact with these technologies.FundingUSDA. ObjectiveAssess cell phone, internet, and app usage among WIC participants. Assess cell phone, internet, and app usage among WIC participants. Theory, Prior Research, RationaleEmail, internet, smart phones, and apps all provide an opportunity to connect WIC participants with the program as well as enhance program evaluation. Understanding how many participants use each technology and under what circumstances will help WIC optimize future technology-based education and administrative projects. Email, internet, smart phones, and apps all provide an opportunity to connect WIC participants with the program as well as enhance program evaluation. Understanding how many participants use each technology and under what circumstances will help WIC optimize future technology-based education and administrative projects. Study Design, Setting, Participants, and InterventionA representative sampling of 17 Oregon Local WIC Agencies administered a hard copy survey (HC) to participants (English/Spanish) during a 1-week period. An email link to an electronic version of the survey (ES) was sent to participants having an email address in the data system. A representative sampling of 17 Oregon Local WIC Agencies administered a hard copy survey (HC) to participants (English/Spanish) during a 1-week period. An email link to an electronic version of the survey (ES) was sent to participants having an email address in the data system. Outcome, Measures and AnalysisSurvey results were analyzed for differences between ES and HC respondents. Survey results were analyzed for differences between ES and HC respondents. ResultsMore than 30% of respondents had either a basic cell phone or no cell phone at all. While only 3% of ES respondents said they hardly ever look things up on the internet, 18% of English HC respondents and 50% of Spanish respondents reported this. Only 7% of HC and 13% of ES respondents used a grocery or nutrition app. Even among ES respondents fewer than 8% reported using their cell phone to scan UPC’s or QR codes. The ES survey yielded a non representative sample. More than 30% of respondents had either a basic cell phone or no cell phone at all. While only 3% of ES respondents said they hardly ever look things up on the internet, 18% of English HC respondents and 50% of Spanish respondents reported this. Only 7% of HC and 13% of ES respondents used a grocery or nutrition app. Even among ES respondents fewer than 8% reported using their cell phone to scan UPC’s or QR codes. The ES survey yielded a non representative sample. Conclusions and ImplicationsElectronic technologies hold great potential for connecting WIC with program participants. However, relying solely on email addresses to gather information from WIC families may skew results. Additionally, while some WIC families are ready to use smart phone or internet tools to interact with WIC, a significant number still have limited contact with these technologies. Electronic technologies hold great potential for connecting WIC with program participants. However, relying solely on email addresses to gather information from WIC families may skew results. Additionally, while some WIC families are ready to use smart phone or internet tools to interact with WIC, a significant number still have limited contact with these technologies.