Enhancing WIC Referrals for Military Families Through Informatics and Community Health Workers

One-quarter of households with an active-duty service member report food insecurity, highlighting the need for protective nutrition programs. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a crucial federal resource that supports the nutrition of pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding individuals and children younger than the age of 5 years. Despite WIC's benefits, it remains underutilized in military communities because of misinformation, limited awareness, stigma, and logistical challenges. This case study examines the process of implementing a novel intervention at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to increase WIC enrollment using an informatics-based approach linked with community health worker (CHW) outreach and case management. This approach highlighted that 1 in 8 military families stationed at Fort Campbell were highly likely to be eligible for WIC, and through targeted CHW outreach 407 military families were referred to local WIC clinics for enrollment. As the CHW recognized the need to expand the intervention to match the local context, an additional 315 military families were referred to WIC through in-person referrals. Although we had aimed to create a model that could be reproducible across the Department of Defense for military families, ultimately the informatics-based approach was labor intensive and had limitations. The intervention did highlight the pivotal role of CHWs in navigating project processes and fostering trust, collaboration, and sustained success. Through increased knowledge, crucial partnerships, and project visibility, this process has laid the groundwork for future upstream advocacy efforts to reduce food insecurity and increase WIC engagement within military-connected communities.