"The Better Bottle" Review

First, Jonathan reviews what he already knows. “The Better Bottle” program was created by the Huntsville Department of Health in response to data which ranked Huntsville County as having one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the state. Huntsville County is a large, suburban area comprised of mostly middle or upper class families; however, there are pockets of low-income neighborhoods scattered throughout the county. Huntsville is racially and ethnically diverse, and there are a handful of main languages spoken by residents, including English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean. Through a public awareness campaign, educational classes, breastfeeding trainings, and knowledge-enhancing pamphlets and other materials, “The Better Bottle” aims to promote pregnant women to breastfeed infants for the first six months of life. The program was designed to be ongoing and flexible; women enroll in the program but then choose the activities in which they want to participate, and the curricula for the educational and training activities cycles every four weeks.

A brief survey conducted recently with women who completed the program to evaluate the program’s impact after one year found that utilization of the program is less than the staff anticipated. The program staff decided to follow-up the survey with a qualitative study, in order to gain a better understanding of the factors that are preventing engagement and/or limiting participation in the program. Jonathan’s job is to assist in designing the qualitative study.

Let’s see how Jonathan goes about the process of designing the study.