Start Date: November 2024

ID #: 82563

Principal Investigator: Susan Gross, PhD

Organization: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Funding Round: HER Round 14

See more related research

Share


The need for WIC food delivery solutions has been recognized as a national policy priority to ensure equitable access to WIC benefits. WIC food ordering and delivery has the potential to significantly WIC benefit redemption and health equity on the Navajo Nation, but infrastructure and other contextual factors must be considered in order to implement a successful delivery system. This project aims to: 1) Conduct a secondary analysis of Navajo Nation WIC data to characterize the landscape of WIC food acquisition; 2) Gather qualitative data through interviews with WIC participants and staff, food store owners, and delivery workers to guide the planning of a WIC food ordering and delivery system; and 3) Test the feasibility of ordering and delivery in one Navajo Nation community. Key partners across the Navajo Nation will participate in formative research, and 30 households served by the Fort Defiance WIC office will participate in the food delivery pilot. Primary outcomes include acceptability, operability, perceived sustainability, preliminary efficacy of the ordering and delivery pilot, as well as changes in WIC benefit redemption among pilot participants.

Related Research

April 2026

Policy Priorities and Research Needs for Advancing Healthy Eating: A 2026-2027 Research Agenda for U.S. Children and Adolescents

Given recent changes to nutrition policies and programs and the food environment landscape, the need for new evidence on how these changes impact nutrition, health, and food access is greater than ever. HER has also published a research agenda intended to provide a blueprint for immediate (i.e., 12-18 month) research needs to inform strategies to More

November 2025

Informing equitable implementation of SNAP food restriction waivers

SNAP is the largest federally funded nutrition assistance program in the U.S., providing support to more than 40 million Americans. This study aims to provide tangible information, insights, and resources grounded in SNAP participants’ preferences and feedback to support the implementation and communication of SNAP Food Restriction waivers, minimizing barriers to SNAP participation and benefit More

November 2025

Forecasting WIC funding needs: Supporting families, strengthening access

WIC serves more than 50% of all infants born in the U.S. The goal of this study is to build a forecasting model to estimate national WIC funding needs under various policy and economic conditions through fiscal year 2027. The model will also be designed to allow for updates to forecast funding needs for future More