Vegetarian & Vegan Diets: a class for WIC parents and their children

Lindsey Patterson & Chelsea Small

Implementation Details for 60 minute Group Education Activity, March 11th 2014 at 10:45am in Ashland, Oregon During Distance WIC Clinic
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Project Goal
We partnered with Jackson County Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to promote good health through nutrition education for WIC participants following vegetarian and vegan diets during a group appointment

Successes/Impact on Community
"! 100% participation & acceptance of handouts "! Promoted productive dialogue "! 100% of participants demonstrated understanding of presented material through relevant discussion/questions "! Applicable diet modifications/concerns addressed "! 100% of participants stated motivation to make diet changes and stated specific examples "! Impact of this class has the potential to decrease risk of nutrient deficiencies and their serious health consequences in a very vulnerable population

Introduction!
Thanked participants for attending & introduced ourselves. Described what we would be discussing and welcomed participation. !

Objective
For WIC clients who attend the group appointment to: !! !! !! Verbally participate in discussion List at least one change that they plan to make to their diet to better meet their/and their childs nutrient needs Verbally state the most interesting thing they learned during class

Question Stage
Questions asked to start class, guide topics and encourage participation: ! Would any of you be willing to share if you follow a vegan or vegetarian diet and why? ! Any other diet restrictions or allergies? ! Whats your favorite thing about your diet? ! Do you have any concerns about your own or your childs diet? !

Possible Improvements/Lessons Learned:

!! Attendance was low, perhaps holding the class in Medford, Oregon, which has a much larger population of WIC participants, may draw more attendees !! Eliminating visual handouts during class may allow participants to give their full attention to the PowerPoint presentation and discussion !! Participant Centered Education techniques continue to yield good results for WIC classes

Background & Significance

"! Vegetarian/Vegan diets are low in Calcium, Zinc, Iron, B12, Omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin D when poorly planned "! WIC participants are children under 5 years, and pregnant or breastfeeding women "! Deficiencies in this population have lifelong consequences "! Education on meeting needs positively impacts clients health and growth "! Vegetarian and vegan diet education is lacking at Jackson County WIC "! A very high percentage of WIC clients in Ashland, Oregon follow vegetarian or vegan diets

Information Stage
Reaffirmed their choice in following their chosen diet and benefits of vegetarian diets and began providing information. Presented PowerPoint on

Calcium, Vitamin D, Zinc, B12, Iron and Omega 3 fatty acids

throughout the lifecycle in vegetarian and vegan diets and their respective food sources/supplements/fortified foods, one at a time. ! Passed around visual nutrient-source handouts and encouraged questions as they came up ! Hand-outs included many food sources of nutrients as well as specific WIC food sources of all 6 chosen nutrients !

Summary Stage
Summarized key points and take-away message. ! Questions asked: !! What are some practical ways you could include these nutrients in your diet (offered ideas) !! Asked final evaluation questions of participants !

Theory/Model
"! Utilized Participant Centered Education (PCE) "! Relevant PCE techniques: Change talk, group share, presentation and facilitation, motivation, explore/offer/ explore, affirmations, reflect and summarize "! Evaluation of objectives measured through open dialogue with participants throughout the group appointment

Close
Thanked participants, answered questions and offered summary handout and vegan/vegetarian recipes to take home ! A special thanks to our project mentors, Debbie MoteWatson, Judy Harvey, and the supportive staff at Jackson County WIC