An Evaluation of the CDC's Community-Based Breastfeeding Supplemental Cooperative Agreement: Reach, Strategies, Barriers, Facilitators, and Lessons Learned

Mothers' Experiences During the 2022 Infant Formula Shortage in Washington D.C

INTRODUCTION

An unprecedented shortage of infant formula occurred in the United States (U.S.) in 2022 and posed widespread challenges to infant feeding nationwide. The purpose of this study is to investigate mothers' experiences during the 2022 infant formula shortage and its perceived impacts on infants' diet and health.

METHODS

Mothers (n = 45) of infants under 8 months old from Washington D.C. were invited to participate in a virtual study meeting during the summer of 2022. Mothers completed surveys regarding their demographics, infants' anthropometrics, infant feeding practices, information they have received about infant feeding, and knowledge about infant feeding practices. They then participated in a qualitative interview about their experiences during the infant formula shortage.

RESULTS

Overarching themes were: the shortage (1) had adverse impacts on mothers' mental and emotional health; (2) had significant financial and intangible costs; (3) led to changes in infant feeding practices; (4) social and family networks were helpful in navigating the shortage; and (5) mothers felt fortunate to have resources to breastfeed and/or obtain formula.

DISCUSSION

The infant formula shortage adversely impacted mothers' mental and emotional health, and was costly, in terms of financial and intangible costs. Findings demonstrate the need to develop clinical and policy approaches to support mothers in feeding their infants and provide education about safe infant feeding practices.

Impact of support agreement between municipalities and convenience store chain companies on store staff's support activities for older adults

In the continuously aging society, private sectors are expected to play a role in older adult care. Implementing an agreement between municipalities and private sectors is one of the key mechanisms for encouraging private sectors to participate in supporting older adults. The study's aim was to evaluate whether the support agreement has promoted support activities by convenience store staff for older adults. A retrospective observational study was conducted between 2013 and 2016 using data from a nationwide survey of convenience stores. The municipality-level matching produced 168 municipality pairs, with 2242 convenience stores that entered into a support agreement with municipalities from 2014 to 2015, and 2141 stores without such an agreement. Convenience store-level logistic regression analysis evaluated the impact of the agreement on staff activities. The analysis showed that some staff activities increased significantly with the support agreement, such as corresponding or collaborating with community support centers (AOR = 3.40; 95% CI: 2.22 to 5.26), participating in role-playing programs for older adult care (AOR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.01 to 4.26), and attending dementia support lectures (AOR = 18.21; 95% CI: 8.27 to 45.34). Emergency protection for older adults did not increase with the support agreement. The results suggest that the support agreement positively influenced some convenience store staff's support activities for older adults.

A Case Study of Michigan's Breastfeeding Initiative: The Role of Coalitions in Community-Based Breastfeeding Support

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) funded 9 local breastfeeding coalitions to implement breastfeeding support groups and to develop breastfeeding resources for mothers and health professionals. The authors conducted qualitative analyses of reports, success stories, and MDCH grantees' interview responses (via follow-up call with 3 coalitions) to assess key barriers, facilitators, and lessons learned for coalitions implementing breastfeeding support groups. Coalitions noted implementation barriers related to their organizational structure and to recruiting mothers and finding meeting locations. Facilitators to implementing breastfeeding support groups included referrals, expertise, resources, and incentives. The following themes emerged from the reports analysis regarding how to implement breastfeeding support groups: "meet moms where they are," build community partnerships, and leverage in-kind and financial resources to sustain breastfeeding support groups.