Since 1974, the federal government’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children has saved lives and greatly improved the health of nutritionally at-risk women and children, studies show. The WIC program, as it is more commonly known, is more than an impactful federal program; it relies on state and local agencies to help provide high-quality nutrition services that have been shown to have positive impacts on birth outcomes, health, and cognitive development. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the arm of the federal government that runs WIC, relies upon Palladian Partners for strengthening the support for these on-the-ground state and local agencies.
The WIC program requires the state and local agencies’ teams to use its participant-centered, health outcome-based approach to WIC nutrition assessment called the Value Enhanced Nutrition Assessment, or VENA. In short, the VENA approach puts the needs of the participant at the core of WIC nutrition services and identifies and supports their unique healthy behavior goals.
The collaborative efforts of the Palladian team of health communication professionals, in conjunction with Altarum’s Population Health team, have earned recognition from WIC as experts in helping WIC staff and stakeholders across the country on the execution of VENA. Our approach begins with comprehensive formative research, engaging stakeholders from states, regional federal offices, WIC committees, as well as nutrition and health assessment experts. This inclusive process ensures that insights are gathered from diverse perspectives. Next, we leveraged these insights to develop new, empowering guidance for WIC staff and stakeholders, which we then promoted, distributed, and used to help train state and local WIC staff and stakeholders.
In 2023, the Palladian team produced live-action videos, discussion guides, desk references, training modules, and customizable presentation materials. It all works in harmony to provide detailed, important information about how to make WIC work better for the participants who count on it, as well as to strengthen the skills and capacity of WIC staff nationwide.
Jason Young, President of Palladian, adds, “This work is as mission-centered as it gets, and we routinely hear praise and thanks for providing the on-the-ground staff with what they need to excel.”
Another imperative of our work is to create all materials so that they are as plain-language and as accessible as possible.
Through our collaborative and multifaceted approach, our suite of research-driven work products helps WIC teams across the country to better meet the needs of WIC program participants. That’s a huge win for the millions of women, infants, and children who need and deserve the nutrition and support services that is foundational to their health, learning, and future success.
With more than 6.3 million women, infants, and children counting on the WIC program every month, it is vital that the program is well-suited to their needs – that is what motivates the Palladian team of WIC experts, registered dietitians, skilled science and health writers, and talented graphic designers.