• A Charles Sturt University academic aims to identify ways for dietitians to better support non-dietitian health professionals to provide nutrition advice
• Little is known regarding the nutrition advice practices and perspectives of non-dietitian health professionals
• Researcher seeks survey responses from ten non-dietitian health professions: nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, podiatrists, social workers, speech-language pathologists, osteopaths, chiropractors, and dentists

The second phase of research by a Charles Sturt University academic seeks online survey responses about nutrition from 10 categories of non-dietitian health professionals.

PhD candidate and Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics in the Charles Sturt School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences Ms Ruth Crawford (pictured, inset) asks, ‘What do non-dietitian health professionals think about giving nutrition advice?’.

Ms Crawford is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) with nearly 30 years’ experience and is currently completing her PhD at Charles Sturt which is investigating the nutrition advice practices and perspectives of non-dietitian health professionals (NDHPs).

The research is a follow-on from her earlier first phase research which she recently presented at the 46th Nutrition Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting in Perth. Her presentation was titled ‘What do non-dietitian health professionals think about giving nutrition advice?’.

Ms Crawford said little is known regarding the nutrition advice practices and perspectives of non-dietitian health professionals, and the current project is the second and final phase of research exploring those perspectives and practices.

“Building on the results of Phase One of the research which captured NDHPs’ nutrition knowledge, nutrition advice practices and experiences, the second phase aims to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of NDHPs’ nutrition advice practices and identify ways to better support NDHPs in provision of nutrition advice,” she said.

“Specifically, Phase Two seeks to better understand the influence of professional training, knowledge and beliefs on Australian NDHPs nutrition advice practices.”

Data collection methods will include an online survey and semi-structured interviews to gain the depth of information required.

Ms Crawford wants to hear from the 10 non-dietitian health professions identified as having the greatest potential to help further understand the Phase One research findings: nurses, dentists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, podiatrists, social workers, speech-language pathologists, osteopaths, and chiropractors.

In Phase One research, 260 Australian non-dietitian health professionals from 26 different professions completed the online survey investigating nutrition advice practices and perspectives of non-dietitian health professionals, their level of nutrition knowledge, and understanding of their nutrition advice scope of practice.

“Why does it matter if non-dietitian health professionals give nutrition advice?” she asks.

“Given the prevalence of nutrition-related chronic disease in Australia and the relatively small number of dietitians, especially outside metropolitan areas, it is important that all health professionals can support clients’ healthy eating practices by providing appropriate general nutrition advice.

“There are such high rates of diet-related disease in Australia, and the National Health and Medical Research Council has identified diet as the most important behavioural risk factor that can be changed to improve health.”

Some key findings from the Phase One survey:

• Almost 90 per cent of respondents said that giving nutrition advice was an important part of their role.
• Some (17.7 per cent) provide nutrition advice every time they work with clients while  more than half (53.5 per cent) give it less than monthly.
• Confidence to give nutrition advice also varied - more than a third (37.1 per cent) felt confident but nearly as many did not feel confident (30.2 per cent).
• Most (73.8 per cent) rated their own level of nutrition knowledge as 5 or less on a 10-point scale.
• More than half (57.9 per cent) never use information from the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
• Clients were not regularly referred to see a dietitian; 27 per cent never refer and 57.5 per cent referred to the dietitian less than monthly.

Ms Crawford said Phase Two of the research aims to better understand respondents’ thinking and attitudes; for example, ‘why are some health professionals confident, feel knowledgeable and give nutrition advice regularly, while others don’t?’.

“When we know this, we’ll be able to identify ways for dietitians to better support non-dietitian health professionals to provide nutrition advice,” she said.

Find more information and complete the 5-10 minute anonymous online survey.