GEM No.

503
Recruiting EFNEP Agency Partners: Process and Materials
Susan S. Baker, EdD1; Garry Auld, PhD, RD1; Lauren Burdock, MSy; Emily E. Biever, MSy;
Kathryn McGirr, MS, RD1; Nancy Ann Banman, PhD2

INTRODUCTION white space, realistic color, and hands-on cooking component of the
photographs instead of clipart helped program; that participants get to eat
The Expanded Food and Nutrition Ed- with readability and appropriateness the food they make; an itemized list
ucation Program (EFNEP) was created of the materials for the intended of what participants receive with the
in 1968 in response to the concerns audience.9 program; the topics of EFNEP lessons;
about hunger in the United States.1 In Phase I, 5 officials from agencies the contact information for the local
The Expanded Food and Nutrition that were currently partnering with EFNEP paraprofessional educators;
Education Program uses paraprofes- EFNEP were interviewed individually and the graduation certificate partici-
sional educators who represent the to obtain their opinions about EFNEP pants receive upon completion of
target audience to teach basic and 5 EFNEP recruitment brochures the program. They also appreciated
nutrition, food safety, food resource from other states. In Phase II, poten- statements explaining that EFNEP
management, and physical activity tial agency partners were shown draft provides nutrition education to other
to limited-resource families.2 Accord- recruitment brochures created after agencies and can refer clients to other
ing to the Colorado State University Phase I. They were asked to give their agencies as well as evidence that
EFNEP Web site, a common way for opinions on which brochure was EFNEP can adapt to accommodate
both adult and youth participants to more appealing, what they would the needs of an agency’s audience.
be referred to the program is through change, and what they felt was impor- From this information, 2 draft recruit-
community agencies affiliated with tant to include in the final version. In ment brochures targeting agencies
EFNEP.3 Prior to this project, Colo- both phases, 2 individuals indepen- serving adults and 2 draft recruitment
rado EFNEP did not use any printed dently reviewed the interviewer’s brochures targeting agencies serving
materials to recruit potential agency notes. youth were prepared for Phase II of
partners, and there was a lack of the research.
recruitment materials for potential In Phase II, interviews were
EFNEP participants.4 RESULTS conducted in 2 counties with 5
agency officials not currently partner-
METHODS Five interviews were conducted with ing with EFNEP. These agency officials
officials from current EFNEP partner- preferred the 1-page, double-sided
Parallel to the process for participant ing agencies in 2 counties. Agency of- sheet to the tri-fold brochure, citing
recruitment materials,4 EFNEP agency ficials liked brochures that included the readability and content, especially
recruitment materials developed by personal feedback from clients, de- the information about EFNEP lessons,
other states were used to solicit feed- tailed explanations of what the clients the lesson enhancements, and quotes
back from current and potential receive from the class, what clients do from participants. As far as design, in-
agency partners. Brochure developers in the class, the knowledge clients terviewees liked the colors, large font,
used the same social marketing the- gain from the program, and informa- ample white space, big photos with an
ory5,6 and business communication tion arranged by bullet points instead ethnic mix of participants (in the
literature7,8 when creating the of full sentences. Agency officials felt youth materials), and that the infor-
recruitment materials, as occurred that the recruitment brochures target- mation fit on 1 sheet of paper. Agency
with the participant recruitment ing potential agencies should include officials indicated that the following
materials development.4 Adequate an emphasis on the following: the information increased their interest
in partnering with EFNEP: the pro-
gram provides nutrition education;
1
Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO the inclusion of a physical activity
2
CSU School of Social Work Center for Life-Long Learning and Outreach Education, component; the adaptability and the
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO hands-on, interactive nature of the
†
Lauren Burdock and Emily E. Biever were graduate students at the Food Science and program; and the nutrition informa-
Human Nutrition Department, Colorado State University at the time this study was tion and the lesson enhancements re-
completed. ceived by the EFNEP participants.
Address for correspondence: Susan S. Baker, EdD, 102 Gifford Building, Food Science and Suggested changes to the materials
Human Nutrition Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1571; include making the ‘‘What is EFNEP?’’
Phone: (970) 491-5798; Fax: (970) 491-8729; E-mail: Susan.Baker@colostate.edu section more concise, adding photos
J Nutr Educ Behav. 2011;43:551-554 with more ethnic diversity for the
Ó2011 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR adult materials, and clarifying the eli-
doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2011.05.011 gibility guidelines of the program on

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior  Volume 43, Number 6, 2011 551
552 Baker et al Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior  Volume 43, Number 6, 2011

Figure 1. Youth agency brochure developed to recruit agencies to Colorado State University’s Expanded Food and Nutrition
Education Program.
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior  Volume 43, Number 6, 2011 Baker et al 553

Figure 2. Adult agency brochure developed to recruit agencies to Colorado State University’s Expanded Food and Nutrition
Education Program.
554 Baker et al
the adult materials. Agency officials
would appreciate more information
on what makes EFNEP unique, the
cost to participants and timeframe of
the program, and an explanation for
agencies that EFNEP ‘‘comes to them’’
(see Figures 1 and 2 for the final
brochures with these edits included).
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Guidance and training should be pro-
vided to EFNEP paraprofessionals in
the use of these recruitment materials.
Ideally, the recruitment materials tar-
geting agencies would be presented
to potential agency partners during
a scheduled one-on-one meeting.
However, at gatherings attracting
agencies with a similar target audience
such as health fairs, supplemental ma-
terials with a similar look, such as
posters or a display board used in con-
junction with the brochures, might be
useful in providing information about
EFNEP to potential agency partners.
Increased knowledge of EFNEP, both
by agencies and the community,
boosts the perceived benefit of the
program and thus the EFNEP parapro-
fessional’s overall job satisfaction.10
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior  Volume 43, Number 6, 2011
NOTES
This research was approved by the
Human Research Committee at
Colorado State University in January,
2009. Funding for this project was
provided by the Colorado EFNEP.
REFERENCES
1. Briggs C, Briggs M. The first decade of
journal of nutrition education and
behavior. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2008;40:
125-133.
2. United States Department of Agricul-
ture’s National Institute of Food and
Agriculture (NIFA). About EFNEP.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/food/
efnep/about.html. Updated March 18,
2009. Accessed July 12, 2011.
3. Department of Food Science & Human
Nutrition, Colorado State University.
Expanded Food and Nutrition Educa-
tion Program: Welcome to Colorado
EFNEP! http://www.efnep.colostate.
edu. Accessed July 12, 2011.
4. Burdock L, Auld G, McGirr K,
Banman N, Baker S. Recruiting
EFNEP participants: process and
materials. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2011;43:
548-550.
5. Andreasen AR. Social marketing: its
definition and domain. Journal of
Marketing and Public Policy. 1994;13:
108-114.
6. Bryant C, Lindenberger J, Brown C,
et al. A social marketing approach to in-
creasing enrollment in a public health
program: a case study of the Texas
WIC program. Human Organization.
2001;60:234-246.
7. Guffey ME. Business Communication:
Process and Product. 6th ed. Mason,
OH: South-Western College Publica-
tions; 2008.
8. Yadin D. Creative Marketing Communica-
tions. 3rd ed. Dover, United Kingdom:
Kogan Page; 2001.
9. Townsend MS, Sylva K, Martin A,
Metz D, Wooten-Swanson P. Im-
proving readability of an evaluation
tool for low-income clients using
visual information processing theo-
ries. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2008;40:
181-186.
10. Dickin K, Dollahite J, Habicht JP. Job
satisfaction and retention of commu-
nity nutrition educators: the impor-
tance of perceived value of the
program, consultative supervision, and
work relationships. J Nutr Educ Behav.
2010;42:337-344.