Homemaker reaction to EFNEP/Food Stamp Pilot Nutrition Education Project : a 1983 Pennsylvania and Massachusetts survey

Between 1982 and 1983, more than 750 homemakers from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts participated in a national study to test selected methods of delivering nutrition education to low-income families. The study, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)/Food Stamp Pilot Project, was conducted through the EFNEP in 10 states. At the conclusion of the study, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts conducted a survey of 241 homemakers who had participated in the program in order to determine the effectiveness of the delivery system used in the EFNEP pilot project--a combination of lessons given face-to-face as home visits and mailed lessons supplemented by follow-up telephone calls. Responses to the survey indicated that low-income homemakers were very interested in receiving all kinds of food and nutrition information, especially that relating to how to stretch a food dollar. Although most respondents preferred one-to-one lessons in the home, they were also receptive to the alternative method of combining direct and indirect contacts as used in the project. A majority of the respondents reported changing old habits and adopting new ones as a result of participating in the project and nearly all of them reported sharing learned information with others.