Pamela Bruno, MPH, Senior Research Associate, in the Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH), has co-authored a research brief published in January in the Journal for Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB). The publication, First Analysis of Nationwide Trends in the Use of the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, examines change over time in the uptake of a nationally adopted model to evaluate impact of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) program.
The research brief summarizes Bruno’s efforts with national colleagues to assess uptake of the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework (Framework), which is a tool that includes 51 indicators that SNAP-Ed programs use to plan and prioritize program impact and measure intervention success across each level of the Social Ecological Model. The analysis examines Framework use, barriers, and technical assistance needs five years after its national release in 2017. The influence of COVID-19 on impacting and evaluating indicators in Framework was also studied.
A repeated cross-sectional study design was used to administer electronic surveys to between 124 and 154 agencies who received SNAP-Ed funding in fiscal years 2017, 2019, and 2021, across all SNAP-Ed implementing agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands. The percentage of state implementing agencies that intended to affect and evaluate the indicators of the Framework over the three years remained stable, with only two of the 51 indicators (nutrition supports and food safety) showing any meaningful changes. Across all years, SNAP-Ed implementing agencies focused on priority indicators set by the USDA, with no notable increases in addressing and measuring longer-term, multi-sector, and population-wide outcome levels of the Framework. COVID-19 impacted intervention implementation and evaluation at the individual level, with less impact on partnerships and sector-level collaborations.
SNAP-Ed is the largest, most diverse public health nutrition program in the country and is administered in Maine by UNE’s CEPH through a contract with the Office for Family Independence at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The full article is available on the ScienceDirect website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2022.11.008