{"title":"Registered Dietitian (RDN) Lack Knowledge and Experience Working With Human Trafficked Individuals: A Call for Interprofessional Team Education","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jneb.2024.05.028","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Human trafficking (HT) is the forcible recruitment and retention of individuals for forced labor, sex or other types of service. HT victims may suffer from malnutrition, dehydration, low food security, and infections, leading to poor health outcomes. HT victims are normally treated with interprofessional team care (IPT). Although RDNs are trained to deliver MNT for these conditions, they may lack knowledge, self-efficacy, and opportunities to assist HT individuals on IPT.</p></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><p>To explore Registered Dietitian cli(RDN) knowledge, self-efficacy, barriers and need for training to assist HT individuals.</p></div><div><h3>Study Design, Settings, Participants</h3><p>This cross-sectional study involved a 43-question e-mail survey completed by (n=241; response rate 25%) members of the Indiana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (63% of responses), the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Women's Health Dietetic Practice Group (23%), and Ball State University dietetic preceptors (14%).</p></div><div><h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3><p>Descriptive statistics, Chi-Square analyses, and ANOVA were used to determine RDNs’ overall knowledge of, self-efficacy for, experience working with and barriers to assisting HT individuals on IPT.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Participants were largely female (97%), white (97%), and had 10+ years of practice (54%). Two-thirds of participants indicated they were “not at all” confident in identifying and caring for HT individuals. RDNs between ages 30-44 and had 3-5 years of practice had the highest mean scores for HT knowledge. RDNs indicated that barriers to working with HT individuals included a lack of: education and professional development on how to serve this population; known cases in the workplace; and reliance on incomplete patient histories. RDNs indicated that they desire more education on assisting HT individuals through continuing education, preferably through webinars.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>No studies to date have explored RDNs’ knowledge of, experience with, or educational needs for raising their ability to assist HT individuals in a variety of settings. RDNs face barriers to working on IPT serving HT individuals. Education, particularly continuing education, may help facilitate RDNs’ ability to make impactful improvements in HT individuals’ health and well-being.</p></div><div><h3>Funding</h3><p>None</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50107,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1499404624001283","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Human trafficking (HT) is the forcible recruitment and retention of individuals for forced labor, sex or other types of service. HT victims may suffer from malnutrition, dehydration, low food security, and infections, leading to poor health outcomes. HT victims are normally treated with interprofessional team care (IPT). Although RDNs are trained to deliver MNT for these conditions, they may lack knowledge, self-efficacy, and opportunities to assist HT individuals on IPT.
Objective
To explore Registered Dietitian cli(RDN) knowledge, self-efficacy, barriers and need for training to assist HT individuals.
Study Design, Settings, Participants
This cross-sectional study involved a 43-question e-mail survey completed by (n=241; response rate 25%) members of the Indiana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (63% of responses), the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Women's Health Dietetic Practice Group (23%), and Ball State University dietetic preceptors (14%).
Measurable Outcome/Analysis
Descriptive statistics, Chi-Square analyses, and ANOVA were used to determine RDNs’ overall knowledge of, self-efficacy for, experience working with and barriers to assisting HT individuals on IPT.
Results
Participants were largely female (97%), white (97%), and had 10+ years of practice (54%). Two-thirds of participants indicated they were “not at all” confident in identifying and caring for HT individuals. RDNs between ages 30-44 and had 3-5 years of practice had the highest mean scores for HT knowledge. RDNs indicated that barriers to working with HT individuals included a lack of: education and professional development on how to serve this population; known cases in the workplace; and reliance on incomplete patient histories. RDNs indicated that they desire more education on assisting HT individuals through continuing education, preferably through webinars.
Conclusions
No studies to date have explored RDNs’ knowledge of, experience with, or educational needs for raising their ability to assist HT individuals in a variety of settings. RDNs face barriers to working on IPT serving HT individuals. Education, particularly continuing education, may help facilitate RDNs’ ability to make impactful improvements in HT individuals’ health and well-being.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), the official journal of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, is a refereed, scientific periodical that serves as a global resource for all professionals with an interest in nutrition education; nutrition and physical activity behavior theories and intervention outcomes; complementary and alternative medicine related to nutrition behaviors; food environment; food, nutrition, and physical activity communication strategies including technology; nutrition-related economics; food safety education; and scholarship of learning related to these areas.
The purpose of JNEB is to document and disseminate original research and emerging issues and practices relevant to these areas worldwide. The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior welcomes evidence-based manuscripts that provide new insights and useful findings related to nutrition education research, practice and policy. The content areas of JNEB reflect the diverse interests in nutrition and physical activity related to public health, nutritional sciences, education, behavioral economics, family and consumer sciences, and eHealth, including the interests of community-based nutrition-practitioners. As the Society''s official journal, JNEB also includes policy statements, issue perspectives, position papers, and member communications.