WIC! Innovative Practices and Legislative Updates

This product is free for PHCN members.

This webinar was presented live on February 28, 2024.

Darlena Birch, MBA, RDN, Senior Manager, Public Health at the National WIC Association (NWA), gives us a glimpse of the current projects and goals to promote and advance racial and healthy equity in public health. Presented amongst the backdrop of the WIC legislative updates from Capitol Hill, it has never been more vital that the inequities in nutrition, breastfeeding, and prenatal and postpartum health outcomes are elevated. The WIC program has always been an innovator in food as medicine and quality nutrition education services, NWA is committed to lending their expertise to ensure that the food insecurity and nationwide racial and health inequities are addressed. Coming through the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the identification of innovative strategies to provide services, resources, and support to millions of women, infant, and young children. Join this webinar to learn more how subject matter experts in nutrition, lactation, research, and policy are raising the bar in public health services and support.

CPE Level: 2
CPEU: 1

Performance Indicators:

• 3.3 Advocates for nutrition and dietetics services and resources for clients and populations
• 12.1 Advocates for health promotion and disease prevention in communities, in populations and globally
• 12.3 Designs and develops community and population health programs, interventions or initiatives to meet the needs of communities and/or populations.

Learning Objectives

• Identify how the latest legislative decisions impact federal food programs
• Recognize how innovative practices align with and contribute to policy goals within WIC
• Identify examples of current innovative practices in WIC programs nationwide

Speaker

Darlena Birch, MBA, RDN

Darlena Birch's WIC journey commenced at the grassroots level within a local agency serving an 8,600-resident rural community along the Arizona-New Mexico border. Progressing from a role as the agency's WIC director and Registered Dietitian, Darlena ventured to the Arizona WIC state office in Phoenix. Her drive for growth led her back east, where she served as the Training Center Nutritionist with the Maryland WIC state office. Currently, Darlena oversees NWA's nutrition and breastfeeding initiatives, contributing to advocacy efforts, crafting public comments, and contributing her expertise in the evaluation of research/studies pertaining to nutrition and breastfeeding.