Understanding Caregivers

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Caregivers play a big role in kids’ willingness and ability to participate in meal programs. Shift their understanding of school food and gather valuable ideas about what to keep doing well, and what could change.

Instructions

Time Considerations: 30-60 minutes to create the survey; the presentation can be customized to whatever length you’d like

Materials Needed: Print survey and pens or Google form; presentation set-up that works for the setting which could include a large monitor or just print-outs; breakfast, lunch or dinner for caregivers and students to enable participation

Participants: You and your team, caregivers and possibly other staff to watch students while caregivers participate in the discussion

Step One

Many caregivers may not be familiar with the food and nutrition programs at their students’ schools. Think about what information you want to share with caregivers and what would be helpful to hear from them. Simply asking caregivers for feedback might yield different insights than asking students. Customize the Presentation for Caregivers and/or Survey for Caregivers provided here based upon your interests. Consider creating a Google Form and adding a QR code to the survey presentation for those who want to provide feedback digitally.

Step Two

Then find opportunities to connect with caregivers to showcase the menu, highlight opportunities for caregiver engagement and support, and ask for their ideas for getting students to take advangage of the school food program. Ideally you would be able to provide some form of compensation if you are asking them to spend more than 30 minutes providing feedback. Providing childcare may also be essential for some caregivers to participate.

For example

Back-to-school nights are a great way to introduce the program and get suggestions
Host digital meetings before, during, and after school for caregivers to partcipate in giving verbal feedback
Host meetings in different languages and/or provide a survey in multiple languages. Try to provide multiple choice questions for surveys that will be translated to make it faster to process when they are filled out
Host an in-person focus group with caregivers who want to provide more guidance for food and nutrition services

Over time, you may find yourself with a group of active parents who you can turn to to test and create new ideas.