Communications

TeleWIC: Keeping Up with Times

By California WIC Association

This paper introduces videoconferencing as a way to bring WIC services into alignment with the expectations of participants. The young adults who are WIC’s clients are native technology users; using videos is a common part of their daily experience. They use Facetime or Skype, for example, to stay in touch with family and friends, stream videos for entertainment or to keep up with current events, and increasingly rely on their smart phones for doing business and finding information. WIC participants will always be young, and their “user experience” for WIC services must remain valuable and relevant to their general expectations for conducting business and accessing services.WIC has an opportunity to take advantage of its clients’ “always online” culture by modernizing how it makes benefits available and accessible. Cell phones and tablets are the new “front doors” for WIC agencies to reach their clients in the ways they do so much else in all aspects of their lives. Applying tools like videoconferencing to reach more WIC participants is something we call TeleWIC. It is part of a growing trend of delivering health care using technology—called telehealth. The time has come for WIC to take a bold, proactive step forward and integrate these modern technologies. Now is the time to learn about, test and implement forms of telehealth, including videoconferencing, in WIC agencies.

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Date Added
May 6, 2019

Citation
California WIC Association (2018) TeleWIC: Keeping Up with Times Issue Brief.  Available online: http://www.calwic.org/news-publications/library/