What should the role of doctors be in the provision of nutrition advice - a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Nutrition plays a critical role in the development of non-communicable diseases, with several dietary-related risk factors associated with these diseases. The purpose of this study was to explore what doctors and dietitians believe the role of the doctor should be in the delivery of nutrition-related advice and care to patients. A total of 16 participants participated in focus groups and completed a short demographic questionnaire. The data collected from the questionnaires were analysed using SPSS version 26 statistical analysis software. Thematic analysis was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s six-step process. Participants were working in a variety of specialities (including general medicine, medical endocrinology, and geriatrics). All participants indicated that doctors have an important role to play, with 90% stating that they would be interested in receiving additional training in nutrition. Three themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) Role, (2) Barriers, and (3) Supports. The main roles of the doctor in the provision of nutrition advice are to act as the first point of contact, to identify those in need of dietetic support and refer and finally, to advocate for and support nutrition in the clinical setting. Barriers to this were lack of knowledge and resources, while access to physical resources, guidelines, and easy-to-use materials that their patients could be signposted to, and in-house education sessions with dietitians, were outlined as necessary supports. Thus, a collaboration between nutrition experts and the medical profession is key.

KEYWORDS:

• Nutrition advice
• medical education
• prevention
• qualitative research
• knowledge

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the doctors and dietitians who took the time to take part in this study. We also wish to acknowledge Ms Helen O’Callaghan; Ms Leah Walsh; Ms Amy Loftus and Ms Laoise Quinn who contributed to the running and transcription of the focus groups.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

‘Conceptualization, L.K. and C.M.H.; Methodology, L.K; Validation, L.K AND C.M.H; Formal Analysis, L.K and N.O.C.; Investigation, L.K.; Resources, L.K and C.M.H.; Data Curation, L.K.; Writing – Original Draft Preparation, L.K and N.O.C.; Writing – Review & Editing, L.K; N.O.C and C.M.H; Visualization, L.K; Supervision, L.K and C.M.H; Project Administration, L.K; Funding Acquisition, N/A’.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

There was no funding sources for this work.