Pima County WIC, AZ

Pima County Health Department (PCHD) WIC provides services to just over 9,000 participants each month and has struggled in recent years with retaining eligible children in the program past their first birthday.

Meet the Pima County HPRIL Team

Cynthia Pompa Project Coordinator

Kevin Koegel Evaluator

Jennifer Chancay Pima County WIC Director

According to PCHD WIC staff, families may exit WIC early due to:

• A lack of understanding that benefits continue until age five;
• Confusion around financial eligibility; and/or
• Insufficient engagement with WIC.

To address these barriers, PCHD WIC has introduced WICBuzz, a drip marketing text message campaign. The campaign features:

• Targeted nutrition education and WIC brand awareness messages aimed at parents and guardians of children from birth to age four who are currently enrolled in PCHD WIC
• Ad hoc messages to remind or educate caregivers of when recertification is due and how the recertification process works.

WICBuzz messaging is tailored based on the participants’ primary language (English or Spanish) and child’s age. Participants have the option to opt out of receiving messages.

PCHD WIC uses feedback from participants enrolled in WICBuzz to modify the number and frequency of messages, but they generally go out weekly. This innovative drip text messaging campaign is intended to: 

• Encourage timely recertification

• Increase participation

• Increase redemption of food benefits

To evaluate the effectiveness of WICBuzz, PCHD 

WIC is utilizing a quasi-experimental design with a pre- and post-evaluation. Outcome evaluation will integrate quantitative analysis of Management Information Systems (MIS) data and qualitative summary of stakeholder perspectives to determine whether the campaign adds value to the WIC experience for participants and improves target population retention. Findings from PCHD WIC will be compared with a control WIC site, Pinal County WIC, which is located nearby and has similar participant demographics. 

If WICBuzz is successful in Pima County, the Arizona WIC program plans to launch a similar texting program statewide.

To learn more about Pima County WIC’s HPRIL project, please contact Cynthia Pompa at Cynthia.Pompa@pima.gov.