Nutrition for Some: A Comprehensive Study of Why Eligible Families Leave the WIC Program

A comprehensive survey of more than 1,500 former participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) along with more than 300 semi-structured interviews with former WIC participants were designed and conducted in order to identify the barriers influencing eligible program participants to leave the program prematurely. Results from the two phases of data collection were used to determine why eligible families are leaving the WIC program, to better understand the program participation barriers cited by former program participants in order to facilitate the development of a typology of program "leavers," and to identify the policy and organizational components that provide context for premature WIC program departure by participants. A narrative approach to organizational understanding and Symbolic Interactionism are utilized to provide a theoretical framework for highlighting program areas which may contribute to the participation barriers discovered in this research. Implications for public administration and policy evaluation are provided.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Public Administration and Public Affairs

Department dc:contributor.department

Public Administration and Public Affairs

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Willis-Walton, Susan M.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Wamsley, Gary L.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Rohr, John A.
• Rees, Joseph V.
• Dickey, John W.

• Organization Theory
• Research Methodologies for Policy Evaluation
• WIC
• Program Evaluation

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-05112009-154340

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/27659