Developing professional education for primary healthcare providers about nutrition

Abstract

Nutrition care is an important component of primary health care as a way to promote positive lifestyle behaviours and reduce risks of chronic disease. Despite this, it appears that primary healthcare settings, including antenatal care, miss opportunities to deliver nutrition care. Time constraints, lack of nutrition knowledge and lack of confidence have been identified as barriers for primary healthcare providers in delivering nutrition care. Nutrition training to upskill primary healthcare providers to deliver nutrition care in a timely manner therefore appears warranted. This forum article discusses models and methods of continuing professional development (CPD) and the effectiveness of nutrition CPD for primary healthcare professionals. It includes a case study as an example of developing nutrition CPD for midwives using adult learning theory and concludes with implications for developing nutrition education resources for primary healthcare providers.