Project

Project Overview

¡Si Se Puede! Breaking down language barriers through empowerment, education, and support within Hillsborough County WIC

Issue

I began working as a Nutrition Educator for the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program at the North Hills location. Based on feedback from Hispanic clients, not being understood or embarrassed of their English skills was a barrier to continued use of the WIC program. Per FL-Wise, almost thirty-four percent of families at this location were Spanish speakers; twenty percent of families within the WIC program in Hillsborough County are Spanish speakers. I realized this communication barrier could prevent thousands of families from receiving the best nutrition and breastfeeding education available to them.

Furthermore, I identified that my clinic did not offer any breastfeeding classes.

 My project focused on how to make my own clinic more inclusive and empower Hispanic women to reach their breastfeeding and nutritional goals for the overall benefit of the community and public health. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers. These are all public health issues that we can improve. The World Health Organization (WHO) set its 2025 standard to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months up to at least fifty percent.

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Objectives

The objectives of this project are to Increase WIC participation and percentage of exclusively breastfed infants within the Hispanic population in the long-term, celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity within the Palm River WIC clinic in the short-term. In addition, to improve my knowledge of breastfeeding to provide quality education to help WIC clients. The objectives changed somewhat due to the unexpected event of my clinic closing permanently in October 2019. However, I plan to continue this work when I transfer to a new clinic.

Implementation Efforts

• The first step was to install a large bulletin board in my office to celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity. I wanted the board to be functional and provide breastfeeding education. The board featured famous breastfeeding Hispanic women that had breastfed, the benefits of breastfeeding, and breastfeeding tips in Spanish.  In addition, I decorated the outside of my office door with Spanish breastfeeding educational materials

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• The next step was becoming a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) to be qualified to teach a breastfeeding class. I attended a 40-hour training for the CLC and passed the exam. After this, I began communication with my supervisor in how we could implement a class. My supervisor contacted the Breastfeeding WIC coordinator to begin this process. We determined that we could offer a class on Wednesdays in the afternoon to a maximum of six clients due to the size of the clinic. Although my project focused on Spanish speakers, I wanted to be inclusive and offer an English breastfeeding class as well. Therefore, I decided to teach a weekly English and Spanish breastfeeding class on alternating weeks

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•  Communication was an integral leadership skill in this project. I was in constant communication with the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor who was assigned to my clinic. She provided me with a list of potential clients for this class. I also communicated with the clerical staff to remind them to confirm appointments and to schedule clients for the class. The call center also scheduled clients for the class

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• Organization was crucial in making this class a success. For example, the day before I would print out the list of attendees and gather the class materials.  I had two binders, one for English and one for Spanish to keep everything recorded. Clients were provided a photo release waiver form; all the clients provided consent for their pictures to be used and signed the waivers

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• The structure of the class was based on the criteria provided by the Breastfeeding Coordinator. I used a box of visual materials and a class outline.  This was followed by watching “Breastfeeding Your Baby” DVD. Afterwards, I provided a question and answer section where the women could ask any questions. The last step was to provide them with an anonymous post-evaluation test with a written section to write what they had learned from the class. 

Below are a few of examples of what they learned about breastfeeding from the class:

• “Not pumping if possible, not using pacifiers. Be patient.”

• “That breastfeeding is good for you the baby and mother. Saves you money.”

• “Skin to skin is very important. Not to give them pacifiers or bottles to not confuse the baby in the beginning of breastfeeding.”

Results

The results reveal that fifty percent received perfect scores on the post-evaluation questions for the class. In addition, clients who were called the day before the appointment to confirm had an attendance rate of greater than fifty percent compared to sixteen percent. The scores of the post-evaluation test ranged between seventy-five to one-hundred percent.

Lessons Learned

It was important to find a project that I found compelling and interesting.  As a Hispanic female, I could sympathize with these women and felt motivated to provide support. Recognizing my personal strengths and how I could improve them was crucial. Although I am fluent in the Spanish language, I have never breastfed nor do I have children. I could only empower these women if I was qualified and taking the steps to become a CLC was the solution. Teamwork and communication was key in making this project a success.  Many of my colleagues were supportive of my vision and provided me with support.  My supervisor was always encouraging and supportive. The most important lesson was discovering my strengths. This project empowered me and I feel competent, confident, and secure.

Leadership Skills