J Acad Nutr Diet. 2020 Oct;120(10):1654-1661.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2020.03.001. Epub 2020 Jun 19.
Many low-income neighborhoods do not include a full-service grocery store. In these communities, discount variety stores (DVS) can be convenient points of food access. However, no identified DVS are authorized to accept Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) benefits.
One national DVS retailer implemented WIC in 10 stores located in low-income communities in North Carolina over a 10-month pilot period to assess WIC feasibility.
To better understand the facilitators and barriers to WIC implementation from the perspective of DVS staff, we analyzed 36 in-depth interviews with employees of this DVS chain at corporate, manager, and store clerk levels.
Most participants provided positive feedback about implementing and offering WIC. Many store employees had personal experience participating in WIC, which increased their understanding of the WIC shopping experience. Store staff's prior WIC participation and customers' proximity to DVS locations were facilitators to implementation. Primary barriers included limited choice of store products for customers, complicated or unclear labeling of WIC products, and difficulty training employees to process WIC vouchers.
These findings suggest that whereas most employees viewed WIC positively, barriers related to product selection and training must be addressed. Notably, North Carolina's recent change to an electronic system to process WIC transactions requires minimal manual employee training and should address several barriers to implementation. However, the computer system upgrades necessary to accept electronic WIC transactions may be a barrier for DVS to continued WIC acceptance. Future research is needed to evaluate implementation of electronic WIC transactions in DVS.
许多低收入社区没有提供全方位服务的杂货店。在这些社区中，折扣专卖店（DVS）可以成为方便的食品购买点。然而，没有确定的 DVS 被授权接受特殊补充营养计划为妇女、婴儿和儿童计划（WIC）的福利。
一家全国性的 DVS 零售商在北卡罗来纳州的 10 家低收入社区的 10 个月试点期间实施了 WIC，以评估 WIC 的可行性。
为了从 DVS 员工的角度更好地了解实施 WIC 的促进因素和障碍，我们对该 DVS 连锁店的 36 名员工进行了深入访谈，这些员工来自企业、经理和店员级别。
大多数参与者对实施和提供 WIC 给予了积极的反馈。许多门店员工都有参与 WIC 的个人经验，这增加了他们对 WIC 购物体验的了解。门店员工之前参与 WIC 和顾客靠近 DVS 地点是实施的促进因素。主要障碍包括顾客对商店产品的选择有限、WIC 产品的标签复杂或不清楚以及培训员工处理 WIC 代金券的困难。
这些发现表明，尽管大多数员工对 WIC 持积极态度，但与产品选择和培训相关的障碍必须得到解决。值得注意的是，北卡罗来纳州最近将 WIC 交易处理系统改为电子系统，这需要最小的手动员工培训，应解决实施过程中的几个障碍。然而，接受电子 WIC 交易所需的计算机系统升级可能是 DVS 继续接受 WIC 的障碍。需要进一步研究评估 DVS 中电子 WIC 交易的实施情况。
