Social justice in Australian and Canadian dietetic regulatory documents: a content analysis.

Abstract

Objective: This research was conducted to determine if and how Australian and Canadian dietetic regulatory bodies incorporate social justice into regulatory documents and how this compares between two otherwise demographically and politically similar countries.

Design: Quantitative and qualitative content analysis of Australian and Canadian dietetic regulatory documents was performed to determine how often and in what context social justice terms were incorporated into dietetics regulation.

Setting: Australia and Canada.

Participants: Regulatory documents in Australia and Canada.

Results: Findings reveal that social justice is framed differently between the two countries, particularly related to working with people who experience marginalisation. Regulatory documents seldom addressed issues of systemic injustice, focusing instead on self-awareness and individualistic approaches to care.

Conclusions: Social justice is currently framed in nutrition and dietetics regulatory documents in ways that do not align with core principles of social justice. Social justice should be reframed in regulatory documents to shift attention away from awareness, towards action, and should be done in a way that addresses systemic injustices in healthcare. Developing a clear and consistent definition of what social justice is is a critical first step in achieving this goal to overcome the challenges identified in this research study.