Nutrition beyond drugs and devices: a review of the approaches to enhance the capacity of nutrition care provision by general practitioners
Jennifer Crowley A C , Lauren Ball B , Clare Wall A and Michael Leveritt B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Discipline of Nutrition, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
B School of Public Health and Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld 4222, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: jennifercrowley099@gmail.com
Australian Journal of Primary Health 18(2) 90-95 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY11116
Submitted: 14 September 2011 Accepted: 6 December 2011 Published: 12 January 2012
Abstract
The prevention and management of chronic disease is a key priority for primary care services. Nutrition-related care is an integral feature of several best practice guidelines for management of chronic disease in the general practice setting. This paper critically reviews the international literature to enhance the nutrition knowledge, skills and overall capacity of GPs to provide nutrition care using examples from nutrition in medical education, continuing medical education, GP-centred and practice-setting approaches. The medical nutrition education approach provides an opportunity for linear translation between desired nutrition competencies and curriculum learning objectives, while that of continuing medical education allows for tailored nutrition education to increase nutrition competencies once a learning need is identified. The GP-centred approach focuses on the determinants of nutrition care provision by GPs as strategies for enhancing nutrition care delivery, whereas the practice setting approach aims to increase the nutrition-related exposure to patients through avenues independent of the GP. In the Australian and New Zealand context, the potential appropriateness of these approaches requires judicious consideration, as it is unlikely that one approach will comprehensively address this topic. Ongoing multifaceted evaluation of each approach is needed to ensure enhancement of GPs’ capacity to provide nutrition care by increasing nutrition knowledge and skills, and improving patient health outcomes.
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