Abstract
An increasing prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and chronic illness is putting an ever increasing burden on healthcare services and delivery worldwide. Diet contributes significantly to the development of NCDs. Nutrition should therefore be viewed as an important aspect of patient care and be addressed by all healthcare professionals (HCPs). Previous work has highlighted a lack of competency around providing nutrition advice in HCPs; however, positive attitudes towards the importance of nutrition care are well documented in this group. The aim of this study is to document and compare Irish HCPs self-perceived competency towards incorporating nutrition care into practice. The NUTCOMP questionnaire was completed by 206 HCPs in Sligo University Hospital. The findings showed positive attitudes towards the incorporation of nutrition care into HCP practice; however, confidence in knowledge and skills was low, thus missing vital opportunities to prevent and/or treat chronic diseases and improve outcomes in acute illness. Previous nutrition education was associated with greater self-perceived knowledge about and skills in providing nutrition care to patients and positively associated with attitudes towards incorporating nutrition care into practice. HCPs expressed a desire and unmet need for additional and ongoing educational intervention in the area of nutritional intervention.
Highlights
An increasing prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and chronic illness is putting an ever increasing burden on healthcare services and delivery worldwide [1]
Nutrition should be viewed as an important aspect of patient care and be addressed by all healthcare professionals (HCPs)
Previous work has highlighted a lack of competency around providing nutrition advice in HCPs [8,9,10]; positive attitudes towards the importance of nutrition care are well documented in this group [11,12,13]
Summary
An increasing prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and chronic illness is putting an ever increasing burden on healthcare services and delivery worldwide [1]. Diet contributes significantly to the development of NCDs [2]; approximately 70% of adults are overweight or obese and nutrition-related conditions account for greater than a quarter of all visits to primary care providers [3]. Nutrition should be viewed as an important aspect of patient care and be addressed by all healthcare professionals (HCPs). A recent study found that out of six developed countries Ireland was the only one without any specific guidance or guidelines on nutrition competencies for inclusion in the undergraduate medical curricula [6]. Allied healthcare professionals aside from dietitians usually have no nutrition content included in their training, even though they have identified themselves as having a role in supporting the self-management of patients with long-term conditions and that this has the potential to include dietary advice [7]
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