National Health Outreach and Engagement Conference 2024

Gabbert, K, McCartney, K, Wood, G, Hill, L, and O'Hara Tompkins, N.
The federal government has renewed its emphasis on nutrition security, through the
development of a national strategy launched at the 2022 National Conference on Hunger,
Nutrition, and Health. The national goal, “ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and
physical activity by 2030 so fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases— while reducing
related health disparities” is used as a guiding principle for federal work in the nutrition arena.
Concurrent with the federal government’s focus on nutrition security, the 2021 Cooperative
Extension Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being focuses on health equity, social
determinants of health, establishing and strengthening partnerships, and utilizing a community
development approach to respectfully engage communities. Framework recommendation 1.7,
“Establish and strengthen relationships between Extension program areas to advance health as
an Extension-wide priority”, applies directly to nutrition security efforts that cross traditional
Extension silos of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Science, and 4H
Youth Development.

In alignment with the federal government’s renewed emphasis on nutrition security and
Cooperative Extension’s Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being recommendations, West
Virginia’s Family Nutrition Program (WVFNP) developed research to understand barriers and
facilitators to WVU Extension employees’ implementation of nutrition security work. WVFNP
is comprised of two federally funded programs, the Expanded Food and Nutrition education
Program (EFNEP) and SNAP-Ed, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education.
The two programs collaborate to provide nutrition education (EFNEP and SNAP-Ed) and
support for policy, systems, and environmental change strategies to improve health (SNAP-Ed).
In summer and early fall 2023, WVFNP surveyed WVU Extension faculty and staff about
barriers and facilitators to conducting nutrition security work (n= 119, 28% response rate). The
Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to develop survey
questions and analyze results.

Likert scale responses were scored from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Responses
were analyzed and means between WVFNP and WVU Extension were compared. Three
statements had high differences between the mean responses from FNP and Extension: two
questions related to the Inner Setting: “There are detailed plans for addressing nutrition
security”, and “There is clear guidance about addressing nutrition security in my work”; and
one question from the Individual Characteristics domain, “I feel competent in doing nutrition
security work”. Additionally, 55.2% of respondents indicated that they are interested in training
to support nutrition security efforts.

Results suggest opportunities for strengthened collaboration and support between Extension
and WVFNP. Strengthening Extension’s capacity to conduct nutrition security work and
aligning WVFNP’s efforts with WVU Extension’s local efforts has national potential as a
model for effective collaboration.

This presentation will discuss the process of developing and implementing the survey, results,
and implications for Extension practice and systems