Hi Everyone,
I am nearing the end of my practicum at Delta Health Care (DHC) WIC in Stockton, Ca. The main focus of my time there was to help the nutrition educators with nutrition education materials including classes and a bulletin board. I also provided nutrition education at the local farmers market every Thursday. DHC was giving out $20 farmers market vouchers to each of their WIC participants, but the vouchers needed to be redeemed at the market, in hopes that participants would actually use them!
Each month at WIC, there is a different nutrition education topic. While I was there, I created the bulletin board for the July/August topic called “Fun for All”. The educators were trying to get away from too many words and focus more on lots of pictures. Once the bulletin board was completed, I also taught the corresponding class, which showed participants various ways to be active, and at all ages. This included how to be active at home, work and life in general. For example, getting their children involved in house work can also be a way to stay active, along with taking the stairs instead of the elevator when out and about. The classes are interactive and the participants are encouraged to actively participate by answering questions and giving their feedback on various topics.
Food demos are something new to DHC and was started by one of the educators here in March. I was able to assist the educator on Thursdays with the food demo, which was fun and widely accepted by the participants. The food for the month was homemade no-bake granola with went along with the Fun For All topic. It was simple and delicious!!
My preceptor also asked if I could create a class about reducing sodium intake, I titled it Eating Right With Less Salt. This class will be taught next year as one of the monthly topics. I also edited/made changes to DHC’s current Food Safety class by removing words and adding more visuals. I updated the class with more current information and made it more relevant to the participants’ needs.
I was also able to attend a collaboration meeting with the Lead Commitee, which I had no idea even existed here in Stockton. This committee screens low-income children who live in older housing for lead and does testing on them to determine their blood lead level. It has been found that many, many children are exposed to high levels of lead and show high levels in their blood. Lead poisoning has been linked to behavioral and emotional issues in children so this committee is doing a great thing by finding these children. The state then mandates that the landlord/homeowner make the necessary home improvements to remove the lead from the home.
Overall, the main purpose of my time here at DHC WIC was to help the educators create, improve and implement the nutrition education that is provided to all WIC participants. It has been a great learning experience. The attached picture is the bulletin board that I created, which went out to the 3 other DHC sites here in San Joaquin County.
Thanks everyone for reading my post!!
Kristen Saccone 🙂
