Development and Testing of a Pilot Integrated Mental Health and Nutrition Education Program for Low‐Income Families in Southern California

Abstract

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally funded nutrition program which provides nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and a supplemental food package for low‐income mothers and children up to the age of five. Nationwide, approximately 25% of the individuals served are women, 25% are infants and the remaining 50% are children ages one to five. WIC services are available in every state and US territory, and currently WIC services are delivered to over 8 million participants each month. In Los Angeles County (LAC), WIC currently serves approximately 67% of all infants and about half of all children ages one to five, translating into approximately 500,000 individuals and 350,000 families each month. While nutrition education is a vital public health service for mothers and their children, a significant unmet need is for mental health support services for WIC participants. In 2014, an LA County survey of WIC families found that 13.6% of WIC mothers reported experiencing depressive symptoms, which included feeling down, depressed or hopeless, or having little interest or pleasure in doing things. Mental health factors such as stress and depressive symptoms are associated with poor food choices and obesity, particularly in low‐income households. Because WIC is a nutrition program, it is not staffed to provide mental health support services. However, many women would benefit from support to alleviate stress and depressive symptoms. The purpose of this Healthy Body and Mind pilot project was to fill this unmet need through a university and service delivery partnership to provide a holistic mental health, life skills, and nutrition education program to WIC participants in LA County. The six‐session program is based on Cognitive Behavioral Theory and developed in the form of reusable modules and handouts. These support groups will be delivered by advanced graduate students in psychology, under the supervision of nutrition and psychology faculty. In this presentation, we will discuss content development of the curriculum, provide an overview of the graduate and undergraduate training model, and share preliminary results of two pilot support groups, one that meets weekly for six weeks, and another that meets monthly for six months. Finally, we will discuss possible implications for future potential university and service delivery models of mental health support programs within WICSupport or Funding InformationThis research is funded by the Pepperdine Community‐Based Participatory Research (CBPR) grant, 2016.