Will New Tool Really Help Dietitians?

When I read this, I could not believethat this was being said by a registered dietitian. I mean that sheis right in what she says, but to say it publicly has to be daring. It is so important that I am going to quote it, "Only80 percent of the dietitians we surveyed did any pre-assessment ofthe client's nutrition literacy, which makes it difficult foreducators to target their counseling so clients can understand andact on the information they are given." KarenChapman-Novakofski is a registered dietitian (RD) and University ofIllinois professor of nutrition extension.
From a profession that lives by itsmandates, mantras, and dogma, this RD speaks very plainly about whydietitians and some nutritionists are often ignored by their clients. The attitude of RDs is so ingrained in their mantras that they donot pre-assess what their patient (client) has knowledge of and whatthey need to be taught to make the information useful.
I know that I am not surprised at herfindings in the survey. Here we get into using terms that are notexplained as well as they should be. Before today, I would havethought a nutrition educator was a teaching position at a college oruniversity. On doing my research, this is true, but also encompassesnutrition educators in hospitals and medical centers as well. Someare also involved in business nutrition education, like agriculturebusinesses Archer Daniel Midlands, Monsanto, and the food industry.
If the 80 percent is from academia, andthe medical arena, then this is why we get the mandates, mantras, anddogma. However, I do think that the term nutrition educators is justthe latest phase we are going to have to get used to coming out ofthe Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. A doctoral student, HeatherGibbs, has developed an algorithm that dietitians can use todetermine precisely what knowledge and skills are required for aparticular client.
I know algorithms can be very powerfultools, but I wonder how this will help a profession that works withmandates, mantras, and dogma. They seldom change and will avoid thealgorithm as they are not as interested in education as they wouldlead you to believe. It could be that this may be about to change,but I would not get too enthused yet.
Some patients or clients as they aretermed in this article need to know how to manage their consumptionof carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Many more need to learn how tomanage portion sizes and others need to learn how to read labels. Then many clients need to be able to categorize foods into nutritiongroups properly. So with this algorithm dietitians will have thequestions to assist them in assessing what the knowledge is that theclient possesses and then teach the client what they need to know bebecome more nutritionally knowledgeable and manage their nutritionalneeds plus work to balance their daily nutrition.
Karen Chapman-Novakofski stresses thatuntil health professional start asking questions to see whatknowledge the patient has about nutrition, it will be impossible toeffectively teach nutrition and create a behavior change. She alsostated that until dietitians narrow their focus and understand whatskills and literacy the client patient possesses, they cannot deliverinformation in a way that will be meaningful or usable by the client.
Dietitians must get away from theeducation level of the patient to understand that the patient and thelevel of nutrition they possess. Then the dietitians can adapt theeducation to fill in the gaps and make the information usable for theclient. Chapman-Novakofski also said if you're the one beingcounseled, don't be afraid to ask “how” questions to force thedietitian to keep the discussion on your level.
The area Chapman-Novakofski did notcover was how to get the dietitian away from mandates, mantras, anddogma. Until these three areas are made useless to the dietitians,little nutritional education will be passed in a usable form for theclients.