Dr. Qi (Harry) Zhang, Ph.D. program directory and professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Policy, and Management, is a principal investigator for a study called 鈥淏ridging the Gap: Connecting the Pediatric Healthcare System with the WIC Program through Third-Party Referral.鈥 The study, in collaboration with Mr. Po Chou, CEO of the Eastern Virginia Medical Group, and Dr. Douglas K. Mitchell, Medical Director of the CHKD Medical Group, comes with an $80,000 research award from the Healthy Eating Research (HER) at Duke University, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The project aims to improve how families are referred from pediatric healthcare to the WIC program (which provides nutrition support for young children and mothers).

The study will use the EPIS (Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment) framework and has three main goals:

  1. Identify the current referral gap by interviewing leaders and staff from the pediatric healthcare system (Children鈥檚 Hospital of the King鈥檚 Daughters Medical Group - CMG), the WIC program, and a technology partner (Unite Us - UU).
  2. Build and launch a new referral system by collaborating with CMG, WIC, and UU to design and implement a third-party system that makes WIC referrals easier and more effective.
  3. Evaluate and improve the new system by measuring how many new families enroll in WIC each week and gathering feedback through focus groups with the healthcare and referral staff. Adjustments to the process will be made based on the findings to ensure the program can continue long-term.

The study will focus on about 22,500 Medicaid-insured children under 5 years old in Southeastern Virginia, covering 19 pediatric locations across Hampton Roads.