WIC SPEAK When Talking the TALK ………Doesn’t Help you Walk the Walk

WIC SPEAK What is WIC SPEAK anyway?

WIC S PEAK Jargon Occupational or technical terms used in a specific work place that help us communicate quickly and simply with one another. WIC SPEAK has a few, or more than a few Food PackageProxy High RiskIssue Month Schedule DayPro-rate

WIC S PEAK Acronyms/Abbreviations Words (usually business specific) formed from initial parts of a name or shortening to the first syllable (can be letters or symbols). They’re convenient. WIC SPEAK loves acronyms/abbreviations WICBFFIBE WOWMICRCPU POPC1NUTED EDCBFPCR&R IBEVOCHR RecertCert

WIC S PEAK When we finally understand WIC’s special language (WIC SPEAK), often after we have finished attending WWI and WWII, we know We belong to the WIC family. We can talk the talk. We belong We are part of the team, we are insiders It’s OK to use WIC SPEAK when talking with each other. To others it may sound like “gobbledygook”.

WIC SPEAK When we use WIC SPEAK with participants or others we let them know that they really don’t belong. We are still in the position of authority. We are in the know and they are on the outside. They may work so hard to understand what we are talking about that they lose the message.

WIC SPEAK We use WIC SPEAK because it is easier for us, or we just forget that not everyone can speak our language. We understand so we assume others get our meaning. And we all know what we get when we assume…………

WIC SPEAK Are there other problems with using WIC SPEAK? Use of Acronyms and Jargon is known and well documented to be a barrier for cross –cultural communication. Acronyms and Jargon have different meanings for different people Example: CPU means Check Pick Up Class to us CPU can also mean a computer to others

WIC SPEAK Don’t risk losing the meaning of your message…. they may be spending all of their time just trying to figure out what you are talking about. Is it truly Participant Centered Counseling if they can’t understand what in the world you are talking about?

WIC SPEAK A WIC STORY

WIC SPEAK A young mother calls your clinic for an appointment. You ask her to hold because WOW is slow right now. You tell her you will give her a CERT appointment after you PRECERT her and the baby. What she might have heard…. They aren’t too excited I called today, their WOWs are slow. I’m not really sure what WIC stands for, I thought I was getting food, but it looks like they are going to screen me to see if I need breath mints, and then I guess schedule me to get some.

WIC SPEAK Well, that all gets worked out. Mom and baby show for their appointment. She forgot to bring proof of residency. You tell her that it’s ok, you’ll just give her a SHORT CERT, or wait, she could sign an affidavit, otherwise you’ll have to TERM her after sixty days. What she might have heard… I guess it’s ok they are certifying us because we are short, although everybody tells me I am tall. Whatever. Do I have to go to court? Being terminated sounds pretty final, and not fun.

WIC SPEAK Thank goodness you finally work that all out and you get to the Cert Action screen. You need a minute to think, and you tell her that you need to set her categories. Let’s see..she will be a PG and the baby is an IFF, what is the baby’s DOB again?…You ask her if she knows her LMP or EDC What she might hear…. She wonders why you are calling her names….and they don’t seem to be nice names at all. She doesn’t have a clue what you are talking about, she already told you the name of the baby’s daddy.

WIC SPEAK When asking her what her water source is she says “TAP WATER”. Takes a while to get that all straightened out. She tells you she doesn’t have Hyperemesis Gravidarum, but later on she shares that she was hospitalized for throwing up so much early in her pregnancy. What you might be thinking….. Why doesn’t she just answer the questions right the first time????

WIC SPEAK You finally reach the Nutrition Risk screens. She is High Risk, and you tell her that she will need to see a CPA to work on a CARE PLAN. She will need a HR appt next time, You would have liked to schedule her for a CPU because you think she might have enjoyed that. It will just be a HR for her and an IND for her baby, no wait, the baby needs a MCV because she will be seven months old. What she might have heard…. I am not sure why they think I am high risk, I am pretty cautious person. I would have liked to have gotten that computer, but now they tell me I need to see someone in the human resources department instead. Isn’t an IND that kind of bomb they talk about on the news? What kind of a place is this anyway? I wonder why I need to see an accountant today?

WIC SPEAK You make her appointments and tell her she will get Nutrition Ed at her next visit. You tell her you don’t need to give her EXIT counseling today since she is a PG. Now you will print her food packages, but the MICR is down so you will have to do manuals. What she might have heard…. Do I need to see some guy next time? He must be really knowledgeable if he has a nickname like Nutrition ED. They should have told us about the EXITs earlier, although there are signs everywhere. Does it really take a several manuals to figure out how to use this stuff?

WIC SPEAK Before she leaves, you tell her she needs to sign her R&R, you almost forgot. If she has any questions about her food package she should just call. If she looses her ID Folder she will need to make a PSV appointment. You tell her it has been your pleasure to serve her today. What she might have heard……. Do they do vacation planning here too? I need one. Will my package be wrapped? Or come UPS or FedX? I don’t even want to know what a PSV is. They never did give me my certs.

WIC SPEAK A little silly, but …….. Use simple language that everyone understands when speaking to clients. WIC SPEAK should be just be our little secret

WIC SPEAK Questions?