scholarly journals Nutritionists as Policy Advocates: The Case of Obesity Prevention in Quebec, Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Wassef ◽  
François Champagne ◽  
Lambert Farand
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Obesity Prevention ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Obesity Policy ◽  
Key Policy

Abstract Objective A core function of the public health nutrition workforce is advocacy. Little is known of the nutritionists’ role in policymaking from a policy process theory perspective. This study analyzes the nutritionists’ role in advocating for a six-year governmental plan on obesity prevention in Quebec, Canada. Design We conducted qualitative research using Quebec´s obesity policy as a case study to understand the role of nutritionists in advocating for obesity prevention policies. A conceptual framework combining the Advocacy Coalition Framework with a political analysis model based on the Theory of the Strategic Actor was developed to analyze the beliefs, interests, and strategies of policy actors including nutritionists. Data sources comprised semi-structured open-ended interviews with key policy actors (n=25), including eight nutritionists (32%), and policy-related documents (n=267). Data analysis involved thematic coding and analysis using NVivo 11 Pro. Setting Quebec, Canada Participants Key policy actors including nutritionists Results Nutritionists formed the core of the dominant public health coalition. They advocated for an inter-sectoral governmental plan to prevent obesity through enabling environments. Their advocacy, developed through an iterative process, comprised creating a think tank and reinforcing partnerships with key policy actors, conducting research and developing evidence, communicating policy positions and advocacy materials, participating in deliberative forums and negotiating an agreement with other coalitions in the policy subsystem. Conclusion Nutritionists’ advocacy influenced agenda-setting and policy formulation. This research may contribute to empowering the public health nutrition workforce and strengthening its advocacy practices. It informs practitioners and researchers concerned with obesity policy and workforce development.

scholarly journals Workforce development in South Africa with a focus on public health nutrition

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 792-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelia P Steyn ◽  
Xikombiso G Mbhenyane
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Primary Health Care System ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
National Human

AbstractObjectivesThe present paper aims to review and report on the current and predicted future public health nutrition workforce in South Africa. Additionally, it examines ways in which the Department of Health (DOH) is striving to meet the increasing burden of nutrition-related diseases in South Africa.MethodsThe primary sources of data used for the review were reports from the Census office, South African health reviews, mortality and morbidity statistics, and documents from the Health Professions Council of South Africa.ResultsThere are fewer than 2000 registered dietitians in South Africa and fewer than 600 of them work in the public health sector. Furthermore, professional nurses – who are the backbone of the primary health-care system and deliver the rudiments of basic nutritional care – are not being trained in sufficient numbers to meet population growth; in 2004 there was only one nurse per 4000 persons. This situation is aggravated by the growing burden of conditions associated with both overnutrition and undernutrition, as well as the enormous demands of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The DOH is striving to meet these increasing needs by means of the Integrated Nutrition Programme as well as a National Human Resources Plan which includes numerous strategies to improve the quantity and quality of health professionals’ training, including dietitians and nutritionists. This plan includes the objective of increasing the public health nutrition workforce to more than 250 newly trained dietitians and nutritionists per annum by 2010.

scholarly journals Public health nutrition workforce composition, core functions, competencies and capacity: perspectives of advanced-level practitioners in Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 607-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Strategy Development ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Workforce Capacity ◽  
Workforce Composition

AbstractObjectives:To investigate the attitudes, experiences and beliefs of advanced-level public health nutritionists with respect to public health nutrition workforce composition, core functions, competency requirements and existing workforce capacity.Design:Qualitative study using structured interviews.Setting:Australia.Subjects:Forty-one advanced-level public health nutritionists employed in academic and senior technocratic positions in state health systems.Results:Advanced-level public health nutritionists recognise the diversity of the public health nutrition workforce but clearly identify the need for a specialist public health nutrition workforce tier to provide workforce leadership. Nominated core functions for public health nutrition reflect broader public health core functions but, in the context of nutrition, specific problem resolution. Opinions about competency needs were similar to many of the cross-cutting competencies identified in the public health field but with specific application to nutrition problems. Competency in the scientific underpinning of nutrition was considered particularly important and delineated this public health nutrition workforce from the broader public health workforce. Public health nutrition was identified as a specialisation within public health and dietetics. Workforce capacity assessments by this group indicate a need for workforce development.Conclusions:Qualitative data from a large proportion of the Australian public health nutrition leadership group have identified core functions, competencies and workforce development priorities that can be a basis for further systematic research and workforce strategy development.

scholarly journals The public health nutrition intervention management bi-cycle: a model for training and practice improvement

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 1981-1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hughes ◽  
Barrie Margetts
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Nutrition Intervention ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Competency Development ◽  
Practice Improvement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Critical Feedback ◽  
Learning Principles ◽  
Nutrition Practice

AbstractObjectiveThe present paper describes a model for public health nutrition practice designed to facilitate practice improvement and provide a step-wise approach to assist with workforce development.DesignThe bi-cycle model for public health nutrition practice has been developed based on existing cyclical models for intervention management but modified to integrate discrete capacity-building practices.SettingEducation and practice settings.SubjectsThis model will have applications for educators and practitioners.ResultsModifications to existing models have been informed by the authors’ observations and experiences as practitioners and educators, and reflect a conceptual framework with applications in workforce development and practice improvement. From a workforce development and educational perspective, the model is designed to reflect adult learning principles, exposing students to experiential, problem-solving and practical learning experiences that reflect the realities of work as a public health nutritionist. In doing so, it assists the development of competency beyond knowing to knowing how, showing how and doing. This progression of learning from knowledge to performance is critical to effective competency development for effective practice.ConclusionsPublic health nutrition practice is dynamic and varied, and models need to be adaptable and applicable to practice context to have utility. The paper serves to stimulate debate in the public health nutrition community, to encourage critical feedback about the validity, applicability and utility of this model in different practice contexts.

Sustainable diets

2011 ◽  
pp. 379-388
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Food Security ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Individual Behaviour ◽  
The Public ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Sustainability and nutrition 380 Sustainable development 382 Food security 383 Climate change and obesity 384 Useful websites and further reading 388 The public health nutrition field has identified a need to encompass the inter-relationship of man with his environment (The Giessen Declaration, 2005). Ecological public health nutrition places nutrition within its wider structural settings including the political, physical, socio-cultural and economic environment that influence individual behaviour and health. As a consequence, it includes the impact of what is eaten on the natural environment as well as the impact of environmental and climate change on all components of food security, i.e. on what food is available, accessible, utilizable and stable (...

Consensus on the core functions of the public health nutrition workforce in Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hughes ◽  
Andrea Begley ◽  
Heather Yeatman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Core

scholarly journals A qualitative evaluation of an Australian public health nutrition workforce development intervention involving mentoring circles

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1458-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Palermo ◽  
Roger Hughes ◽  
Louise McCall
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Development Intervention ◽  
Supportive Environment ◽  
Split Function ◽  
And Function

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate a mentoring circle workforce development intervention among a group of public health nutrition novices.DesignThe mentoring circle intervention focused on facilitating practice-based public health nutrition competence development and supporting reorientation of practice from clinical services to preventive services. A retrospective post-intervention qualitative semi-structured interview was used to explore the experiences of those participating in the mentoring circle and to make evaluative judgements about intervention attributes and effectiveness.SettingVictoria, Australia.SubjectsThirty-two novice public health nutrition practitioners employed in the state public health system.ResultsKey evaluative theme categories relating to the mentoring circle intervention were identified, including the structure and function of the group, the utility of using advanced-level competency items to guide planning, having a safe and supportive environment for learning and the utility of learning via mentoring and on-the-job experiences. These qualitative evaluation data identify the attributes of the mentoring circle intervention contributing to intervention effectiveness.ConclusionsThis qualitative evaluation indicates that mentoring circles can be an effective workforce capacity-building intervention, particularly in novice workforces characterised by professional isolation and split function roles.

scholarly journals A capacity-building conceptual framework for public health nutrition practice

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1031-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Baillie ◽  
Christel Bjarnholt ◽  
Marlies Gruber ◽  
Roger Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Nutrition Intervention ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Nutrition Practice

AbstractObjectivesTo describe a conceptual framework to assist in the application of capacity-building principles to public health nutrition practice.DesignA review of the literature and consideration of the determinants of effective public health nutrition practice has been used to inform the development of a conceptual framework for capacity building in the context of public health nutrition practice.ResultThe limited literature supports a greater integration and application of capacity-building strategies and principles in public health nutrition practice, and that this application should be overt and strategic. A framework is proposed that identifies a number of determinants of capacity for effective public health nutrition action. The framework represents the key foundations for building capacity including leadership, resourcing and intelligence. Five key strategic domains supported by these foundation elements, including partnerships, organisational development, project management quality, workforce development and community development, are proposed. This framework can be used to assist the systematic assessment, development and evaluation of capacity-building activity within public health nutrition practice.ConclusionsCapacity building is a strategy within public health nutrition practice that needs to be central to public health nutrition intervention management. The present paper defines, contextualises and outlines a framework for integrating and making explicit the importance of capacity building within public health nutrition practice at many levels.

Creating a shared vision in the public health nutrition and physical activity sector

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
N. Chilcott ◽  
S. Duncan ◽  
D. Gorton ◽  
L. Matoe ◽  
G. Schofield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nutrition And Physical Activity

scholarly journals Public health nutrition workforce development in seven European countries: constraining and enabling factors

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 1989-1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Kugelberg ◽  
Svandis Jonsdottir ◽  
Elisabeth Faxelid ◽  
Kristina Jönsson ◽  
Ann Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The Uk

AbstractObjectivesLittle is known about current public health nutrition workforce development in Europe. The present study aimed to understand constraining and enabling factors to workforce development in seven European countries.DesignA qualitative study comprised of semi-structured face-to-face interviews was conducted and content analysis was used to analyse the transcribed interview data.SettingThe study was carried out in Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.SubjectsSixty key informants participated in the study.ResultsThere are constraining and enabling factors for public health nutrition workforce development. The main constraining factors relate to the lack of a supportive policy environment, fragmented organizational structures and a workforce that is not cohesive enough to implement public health nutrition strategic initiatives. Enabling factors were identified as the presence of skilled and dedicated individuals who assume roles as leaders and change agents.ConclusionsThere is a need to strengthen coordination between policy and implementation of programmes which may operate across the national to local spectrum. Public health organizations are advised to further define aims and objectives relevant to public health nutrition. Leaders and agents of change will play important roles in fostering intersectorial partnerships, advocating for policy change, establishing professional competencies and developing education and training programmes.

scholarly journals Formulating policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 2333-2340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A Lawrence ◽  
Sharon Friel ◽  
Kate Wingrove ◽  
Sarah W James ◽  
Seona Candy
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Sustainable Diets ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Political Realities

AbstractObjectiveTo develop a policy formulation tool for strategically informing food and nutrition policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets (HSD).DesignA policy formulation tool consisting of two complementary components was developed. First, a conceptual framework of the environment–public health nutrition relationship was constructed to characterise and conceptualise the food system problem. Second, an ‘Orders of Food Systems Change’ schema drawing on systems dynamics thinking was developed to identify, assess and propose policy options to redesign food systems.SettingFood and nutrition policy activities to promote HSD have been politicised, fragmented and lacking a coherent conceptual and strategic focus to tackle complex food system challenges.ResultsThe tool’s conceptual framework component comprises three integrated dimensions: (i) a structure built around the environment and public health nutrition relationship that is mediated via the food system; (ii) internal mechanisms that operate through system dynamics; and (iii) external interactions that frame its nature and a scope within ecological parameters. The accompanying schema is structured around three orders of change distinguished by contrasting ideological perspectives on the type and extent of change needed to ‘solve’ the HSD problem.ConclusionsThe conceptual framework’s systems analysis of the environment–public health nutrition relationship sets out the food system challenges for HSD. The schema helps account for political realities in policy making and is a key link to operationalise the framework’s concepts to actions aimed at redesigning food systems. In combination they provide a policy formulation tool to strategically inform policy activities to redesign food systems and promote HSD.

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