THIS-WIC Vermont Breastfeeding Education Application Feasibility Study

With funding through USDA and Tufts University's Telehealth Intervention Strategies for WIC (THIS-WIC) project, the Vermont WIC department will be conducting a feasibility study of a mobile telehealth solution for breastfeeding education. The purpose of this study is to evaluate this telehealth solution. The research/evaluation involves completing online surveys and interviews. The evaluation will focus on participant satisfaction, usage of the telehealth solution, and use of information collected on WIC participant through the WIC management information system (MIS) and the telehealth platform. It is hypothesized that the telehealth solution will increase WIC participant's satisfaction with breastfeeding education.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Breast Feeding; Telehealth; WIC
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Telehealth solution

Detailed Description

Telehealth can reduce barriers and increase access to care, and it can be applied to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). WIC is a federal nutrition assistance program that helps low-income women with children up to age 5. There is a large volume of research that supports remote patient monitoring, and the most benefits are found when telehealth is used for communication and counseling. The USDA awarded Tufts University a grant to test and evaluate the use of telehealth innovations in the delivery of USDA's WIC program. Tufts University then offered the USDA/Tufts Telehealth Intervention Strategies for WIC (THIS-WIC) grant opportunity to WIC state agencies across the US. THIS-WIC selected 7 WIC State Agencies to receive grants, and the Vermont state agency is one recipient. The THIS-WIC team at Tufts University is leading the evaluation of these telehealth solutions in collaboration with funded WIC State Agencies.

THIS-WIC aims to generate evidence from Vermont's telehealth solution to inform how the telehealth platform supports WIC services . Evaluation findings will inform stakeholders about the platform's benefits and how viable it is to sustain and adapt more widely.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this telehealth solution by having clients complete surveys and interviews on their comfortability using telehealth and their satisfaction with the telehealth solution. Additionally, information about usage will be collected from the telehealth platform, and secondary demographic and other nutrition-related information about study participants is already collected in the MIS and will be utilized.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 116
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02111
      • Tufts University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Speaks and reads English (as the telehealth solution is available in English)
• Pregnant or postpartum
• Has access to a smart phone or smart device (e.g. iPad or tablet)

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Telehealth solution; Telehealth solution offered for breastfeeding education.	Behavioral: Telehealth solution; Telehealth solution offered for breastfeeding education.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Satisfaction with the telehealth solution	WIC clients satisfaction with breastfeeding education offered via the telehealth solution. Data will be collected, and this outcome measure will be assessed via survey completion by study participants.	During the study period, approximately 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Frequency of use of the telehealth solution	The frequency with which WIC clients use the telehealth solution. Data will be collected, and this outcome measure will be assessed via survey completion by study participants.	During the study period, approximately 12 months
Intent to breastfeed	WIC clients intent to breastfeed. Data will be collected, and this outcome measure will be assessed via survey completion by study participants.	During the study period, approximately 12 months
Breastfeeding duration	Duration of breastfeeding in clients offered the telehealth solution. Data will be collected, and this outcome measure will be assessed via survey completion by study participants.	During the study period, approximately 12 months
Attitudes to breastfeeding	Impact of the telehealth solution on WIC clients' attitudes to breastfeeding. Data will be collected, and this outcome measure will be assessed via survey completion by study participants.	During the study period, approximately 12 months
Barriers encountered in use of the telehealth solution and breastfeeding	Barriers encountered by WIC clients in use of the telehealth solution and in breastfeeding. Data will be collected, and this outcome measure will be assessed via survey completion by study participants.	During the study period, approximately 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tufts University
• Collaborators: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); RTI International; Vermont WIC
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Erin Hennessy, PhD, Tufts University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Tufts Telehealth Intervention Strategies for WIC (THIS-WIC)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 26, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 30, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): November 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 6, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 20, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 1, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 31, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 29, 2024
• Last Verified: May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Telehealth; Breast feeding; WIC
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB # 308

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No