Start Date: August 2019

ID #: CAS055

Organization: Old Dominion University Research Foundation

Project Lead: Qi (Harry) Zhang, PhD

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The goal of this study is to examine the WICShopper® app adoption and usage activities by WIC participants and understand how these activities are related to participants’ redemption behaviors and outcomes. The subrecipient will work with JPMA, Inc., the developer of the WICShopper® app, and two WIC state agencies (Kansas and West Virginia) to link the WIC app data with each state’s WIC EBT data in 2019. First, the subrecipient will use data such as app activation, number of times the app is used per month, and the number of times a bar code is scanned per month to identify patterns of app usage among app users. Then, generalized linear regression models will be used to understand the relationship between independent variables such as WIC participant demographic information or store access (race/ethnicity, number of people in household, SNAP participation) and app adoption and usage and benefit redemption. The subrecipient will work with WIC staff closely throughout this project, including regular meetings, agency presentations, or organizing sessions in national meetings to help interpret and disseminate the results.

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