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POSITION PAPER
Year : 2022 | Volume
: 35
| Issue : 3 | Page : 105-108
Nutrition education for providers is limited: it is time for increased education to boost interprofessional collaboration!
Kristen Hicks-Roof
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Kristen Hicks-Roof
1 UNF Drive, 3060A, Jacksonville, FL 32224
USA
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
CheckDOI: 10.4103/efh.EfH_72_20
Nutrition plays a major role in the overall health, longevity, and quality of life of each person, from infancy to elderly. Education and training for most health-care providers to deliver nutrition care to patients have been inadequate and on the decline in the past several decades. This gap needs to be addressed by increasing the knowledge, confidence, and abilities of health-care professionals to deliver nutrition care and work as an interprofessional team for patients. Having a registered dietitian nutritionist as part of the interprofessional team can lead to better-coordinated care, using nutrition at the forefront. We describe the issues with a disparity in online nutrition-focused continuing professional development (CPD) and propose an avenue and strategy to use CPD to deliver nutrition education and training to providers, ultimately to boost interprofessional collaboration.
Keywords: Continuing professional development, health education, interprofessional collaboration, nutrition education
A lack of nutrition education during training in the United States has left practicing health-care providers with a gap in knowledge to deliver nutrition care to patients.[1],[2],[3] As a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) and health-care professions educator, I personally have seen the disparity in the education and training that health-care professionals have in nutrition. Even more so, there is limited awareness of when and how to work with a registered dietitian as part of the health-care team.[4],[5],[6] At the same time, in the United States, chronic diet-related diseases (obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease) are on the rise; all of which may be preventable with lifestyle modification.[7],[8] Behavioral risks (i.e., poor diet and sedentary lifestyle) have been strongly associated as a contributor to premature death in developed countries.[9] Nutrition interventions can help in the prevention, management, and treatment of several chronic diseases that society is faced with today.[10],[11] Since it is widely known that nutrition can play a key role in the prevention and management of chronic disease, the question stands at why nutrition education and training for health-care professionals in the United States is so limited. Moreover, why is there a lack of collaboration between practicing health-care professionals and RDNs?
I argue, among many researchers in this field, that there is a need for all health-care professionals to be trained in nutrition as part of an undergraduate, graduate, and professional curriculum for a range of nutrition-related medical conditions from malnutrition to obesity.[6],[12],[13],[14],[15],[16] In 2023, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education hosted a summit on medical education in nutrition, looking to advance nutrition training within the curriculum, an ideal first step in the process.[17] At present, however, many health professional curriculums do not allow for this inclusion; thus, a viable immediate strategy to provide education and training is within continuing professional development (CPD) courses.[12] As medical knowledge continues to accelerate with new research and clinical recommendations, providers have to fulfill the obligation to continue lifelong learning to optimize patient care. Currently, there is a shortage of nutrition-focused CPD offerings for health-care providers.[18],[19],[20],[21] This is surprising, especially considering that when a nutrition intervention is part of interprofessional patient care, it can reduce complication rates, readmission rates, cost of care, and overall mortality.[22],[23],[24],[25] Thus, the inclusion of nutrition CPD courses, with a focus on including the RDN on the health-care team, for all health-care providers can help in the management and/or treatment of an array of chronic diseases.
Participation in CPD helps strengthen health-care providers' knowledge, performance, and ultimately patient health outcomes.[26],[27] CPD is recommended, and often required, to maintain licensure as a practicing health-care professional.[28] Licensure regulations across all health professions allow for in-person, online, and print versions of CPD courses. Recently, there has been an enormous influx of CPD courses; over half are now online, accessible at the tip of your fingers.[29] When comparing live versus online CPD courses, research shows that the latter may have equal or improved outcomes.[30] Online CPD provides health-care professionals with flexibility in learning, something greatly desired during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.[31],[32] Therefore, online CPD can be used to enhance a health-care professional's knowledge on the importance of including nutrition interventions, and the RDN, in patient care. An online course can provide basic knowledge on the role of nutrition in health, give insight into the value of improving nutrition and lifestyle behaviors, and provide real-life application strategies of how to initiate coordinated nutrition care delivered by the health-care team as a whole.
Each health-care professional is an expert in their scope of practice, of which the RDN has expertise in medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education and counseling. Addressing modifiable chronic diseases requires an interdisciplinary team (for example, general practitioners, nurses, registered dietitians, pharmacists, social workers, mental health providers, and physical therapists). Nutrition education and care delivery can have, and should have, an overlap among a variety of health-care professionals [Figure 1]. Dietitians are recognized as the leader of nutrition education and counseling, as their entire education and training is devoted to this. While I personally believe that an RDN should be a part of every health-care practice, that is not always the case with every patient. Therefore, if we can provide education and training through CPD for health-care professionals on nutrition basics and who the nutrition experts are, the health-care team can address the core nutrition concern with each patient. In addition, this education may stimulate broader inclusion of the RDN as part of the team for every patient.
Figure 1: The overlapping roles of nutrition among health-care providers Conclusion Education for health-care professionals needs to shift its attention from reactive care to preventive care, which can be done by providing nutrition education and training across the health-care professions. Currently, worldwide, there is a major lack of nutrition education and training from university to postgraduate to CPD for all health-care professions. I suggest that an immediate strategy would be to create and deliver nutrition-focused CPD for all health-care professionals can help stimulate interdisciplinary and coordinated core. Online CPD is an untapped avenue across the health professions to stimulate a nutrition-focused, team-based approach to patient care.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References
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