POLICY BRIEF
November 2024

Short Videos to Enhance a Sense of Belonging Among
ITCA WIC Participants
A. Bea Ronan, MNSPa; Nicole Vaudrin O’Reilly, MS, RDb; Francesco Acciai, PhDa;
Emily M. Melnick, PhD, MPHa; Mindy Jossefides, RDb; Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, PhD, RDa
Affiliations:
a College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona
b Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona

KEY FINDINGS

• A greater number of ITCA WIC
participants indicated a high
sense of belonging in the ITCA
WIC community following the
dissemination of videos.
• ITCA WIC participants
appreciated the cultural
representation and felt connected
with the people shown in the
videos.
• Videos reached over 214,000
unique users on social media
platforms (Instagram and
Facebook).

INTRODUCTION
American Indian populations experience high rates
of food insecurity and nutrition-related health
concerns, often living in communities with limited
access to healthy, affordable foods. Participating in the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) has the potential to
address these challenges. Yet, in Arizona, only 56% of
eligible individuals participate in WIC. Lack of social
support and perception of stigma can hinder program
participation. These barriers are often exacerbated in
marginalized groups, such as American Indians, because
outreach efforts for national programs seldom target
these communities. To address these challenges, Inter
Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc (ITCA) WIC developed
a series of culturally tailored short videos featuring WIC
participants to promote program participation and foster
a sense of belonging within the ITCA WIC community.
These videos were shared through ITCA WIC’s social
media accounts and website starting in April 2024. This
brief presents findings from the ASU Food Policy and
Environment Research Group’s evaluation of the impact
and reach of these videos.

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Short Videos to Enhance a Sense of Belonging Among ITCA WIC Participants

RESULTS
ITCA WIC participants were sent a survey before
(1,587 respondents in January 2024) and after (1,623
respondents in July 2024) the dissemination of the videos.
Survey respondents reported their level of agreement
with eight statements assessing their sense of belonging
in the ITCA WIC community (Box 1).

“I appreciate the way it uses Native
American people in the videos it makes
me feel very connected and confident
about using my wic benefits”

4(Box 1)
Respondents were asked to indicate their level of
agreement with the following statements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

The WIC program is there to help and support families
like mine.
I feel that the WIC program is a part of my community.
I feel that my community benefits from participating in
WIC.
Other members of my family also participate in WIC.
My friends also participate in WIC.
Members of my family think that participating in WIC is
a good idea.
Most of my friends and acquaintances think that
participating in WIC is a good idea.
The WIC program understands my cultural needs.

Between 70 and 90% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed with these positive statements about ITCA WIC
in the pre-video survey. In the post-video survey, a significantly higher percentage of respondents agreed or strongly
agreed with 7 of the 8 statements, indicating that the videos may have helped enhance a sense of belonging in the
ITCA WIC community (Figure 1). In addition, over 300 participants provided open-ended feedback on the videos in
the post-video survey. Most respondents expressed strong positive feelings about the videos and the WIC program,
highlighting its positive impact on the community.

Figure 1: Percent of participants who agree with the sense of belonging in the ITCA WIC community statements pre-and post-video dissemination
Responses from 1,587 ITCA WIC participants to the pre-video dissemination survey.
Responses from 1,623 ITCA WIC participants to the post-video dissemination survey.
* Statistically significant difference (p-value < 0.05)

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Short Videos to Enhance a Sense of Belonging Among ITCA WIC Participants

Video Reach: Between April and June 2024, ITCA WIC
posted 8 videos to their Facebook account and 9 to their
Instagram account. Across the two platforms, the posts
appeared on social media feeds 351,740 times and reached
214,433 unique users (Figure 2). In addition, users actively
engaged with these posts 1,640 times by commenting,
liking, saving, or sharing them with other users, with most
of these engagements happening on Facebook.

“I felt a sense of comfort and
community from the videos displayed
at the Clinic”
“I feel that I am seen and can relate to
other mothers in the videos.”

Figure 2: Total impressions and reach of videos through social media posts on Facebook and Instagram
Impressions: The total number of times the posts appeared in any user’s feed, including multiple appearances
Reach: The number of unique users who saw the video in their feed

METHODS
ITCA WIC developed a series of short videos for outreach and to
foster a sense of belonging among participants and the broader
community. These videos were shared on ITCA WIC’s Facebook
and Instagram accounts and posted on the organization’s website.
To evaluate the impact of the videos, ITCA WIC and the ASU
Food Policy and Environment Research Group designed a survey
to assess participants’ sense of belonging before (January 2024)
and after (July 2024) video dissemination. Respondents indicated
their level of agreement with 8 statements (Box 1). The follow-up
survey also included an option for open-ended feedback on the
videos. Additionally, we assessed the reach of the video posts on
social media using metrics such as total impressions (the number
of times posts appeared in feeds, including multiple appearances),
reach (the number of unique users who saw the video in their feeds)
and total engagements (number of likes, comments, shares, saves,
and follows).
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