440 - Learning from Peers: Development of a culturally informed Peer support Intervention to support healthy infant growth outcomes

Poster Number: 440
Publication Number: 440.610

Background: Culturally tailored peer support intervention is a possible way to prevent poor nutritional outcomes and support healthy infant growth for families who are negatively impacted by food insecurity and other social drivers of health. It is not currently known what components should be included in such an intervention

Objective: To understand the experiences and social resource needs of families of diverse backgrounds with infants < 6 months of age to inform the development of a peer parent coach (PPC) intervention

Design/Methods: Data were collected via 30-45-minute semi-structured interviews conducted November 2022-October 2023. Interviews explored perspectives on how a PPC can support families, knowledge a PPC should have, and approaches to training PPC. Participant eligibility criteria included 1) parents >18 years of age 2) who spoke English or Spanish 3) who had a child 0-6 months of age without any medical conditions affecting growth and a gestational age >36 weeks. Audio transcripts were transcribed verbatim. Data was analysis using deductive and inductive thematic analysis. Transcripts were coded by two independent reviewers via Dedoose

Results: A total 18 caregivers participated in the study. Five caregivers identified as White, 6 as Black, 2 as Asian, 6 as Hispanic and 1 as two or more races. 11% of the sample identified as food insecure, 56% reported participation in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program of Women, Infants, and Children, and 50%of the sample had an annual income of <$20k. A majority (66%) of the sample had public insurance. Themes related to how a PPC could support families included 1) providing emotional support, 2) providing knowledge about infant feeding, 3) recognizing infant satiety cues, and 4) connecting families with federal and community resources to address food insecurity and other social drivers of health. A unique theme noted among Spanish speaking-caregivers was hesitancy towards applying federally-funded programs. Themes related to training PPCs included using a multi-modal approach that used hands-on, scenario-based discussions as well as focused lectures

Conclusion(s): There is interest among parents for a culturally informed PPC model to support healthy infant growth by providing emotional support and education on infant feeding and by facilitating connections with community and government nutrition organizations. Multi-faceted educational approaches could be used to train PPC. Awareness of unique barriers faced by some communities such as hesitancy regarding federal programs will be important to include during PPC training.