The International Congress of Dietetics

Citation

Blades, M. (2004), "The International Congress of Dietetics", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 34 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2004.01734eac.005

The International Congress of Dietetics

28-31 May 2004, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Dietitians as multi-department managers. As the health-care environment continues to be turbulent and focused on cost containment, the phenomenon of multi-department management will grow. This session will highlight skills considered important in multi-department management including interpersonal skills, decision-making ability, organizational skills, flexibility, ability to embrace change and strategic ability. Strategies will be discussed to develop and strengthen these skills such as mentoring relationships, networking and by continuing education for dietetics professionals.

Regionalization of healthcare nutrition and food services: centralized meal assembly and clinical practice standarization–a Canadian experience. Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Nutriton and Food Services (Canada) is one of the largest shared foodservice systems in North America. The session will enhance ICDA members’ knowledge of the future of shared food services and the opportunities it presents to establish standardization and best-practice across the continuum of care. The presenters will provide a global perspective as they share experiences, key lessons learned in building a common ground and identify areas of risk for nutritional professionals, contemplating a centralized meal service system.

The epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes: current research and treatment strategies. A total of 15 percent of children and youth are overweight with a BMI > 95 percent. Being overweight predisposes children to cardiovascular disease, elevated blood pressure, hyperinsulinism and type 2 diabetes. This session will discuss specific programs to address childhood obesity, such as promoting physical activity, reduction of sedentary activities and good nutrition.

Improving patients’ satisfaction for meals: mission possible. Food survey forms are important tools to assess what our patients’ expect from food service during hospitalization. The session will address questionnares used to survey patients’ expectations in meals. Experiences such as one-to-one interviews to identify areas requiring remedial actions and comply with the patients’ requirement and suggestions will be shared.

The dietitian of the future: competencies through lifelong learning. This program will address issues facing dietetics educators in Australia, the UK and China, including a comparison of entry level and advanced practice competencies in these selected countries. Regulatory and credentialing standards will be discussed along with specialization vs. general practice in context of educational preparation.

Nutrition security in HIV/AIDS: global challenges for dietitians. The session will outline challenges and training needs for dietetics professionals to become resources for government, non-governmental and other organizations regarding food and nutrition security in the prevention and treatment of HIV infected populations around the world. Panel members will include nutrition and dietetics professionals who have been instrumental in developing policies and guidelines, such as representation from Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) advisors funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Food Programme; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and implementers from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Communicating healthy eating to Children. Overweight/obesity is a major public health problem worldwide, particularly among children. Effective partnerships and communication programs are important strategies to use in working with this issue. Session will highlight two programs, Activate and Kids in the kitchen, that were created by pooling human, financial and intellectual resources.

A knowing organization? Equality, diversity, and dietetics. This session will stimulate discussion on equality and diversity issues relative to the dietetic profession. It will raise ethical concerns with implications for policy guidelines, professional training programs, research, corporate partnerships, evaluation frameworks and professional credibility. Learn how dietetics will gain from ongoing dialogue with other disciplines, including disability studies; co-operative inquiry; critical sociology; equality awareness; feminism; cultural studies and the use of the arts in healthcare.

Population-based programming in the community. Developing and implementing nutrition programs is an important component of community health initiatives. This session will present the Scotland Forth Valley Food Links project that has been in effect for 18 years to improve community food intake and the Canadian Alberta Heart Health project, that shows how regional health authorities use scientific knowledge to create public health interventions.

Dietetic perspectives on nutrition policy. Using policy and environmental change interventions to create healthy communities is an important aspect of dietetics practice. This session will present information from the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan and an initiative in North Carolina (USA) designed to increase healthy eating and physical activity.

Building healthy communities through participatory food security initiatives: the bc pregnancy outreach programs experience. The Pregnancy Outreach Programs in British Columbia (Canada), in collaboration with Health Canada, will relate how they developed peer networks as a tool to further self-sustaining food security initiatives amongst geographically distant and ethnically diverse programs and communities in BC. The project used a participatory approach involving professionals, outreach workers and participants networking together. The methods, learnings, challenges and successes will be shared, eliciting the experiences and perspectives of other participants to build a greater understanding of how participatory approaches work in other countries and contexts.

A systems approach to community food security: Canadian perspectives. A growing number of communities are taking a food systems approach to improving food security. This approach is characterized by multi-stakeholder involvement that includes food producers, distributors, consumers, nutritionists and dietitians, food policy analysts, food and hunger activists, urban professionals. Emphasis will be on lessons learned from the process of coalition building, goal setting, project funding and policy development.

Educating tomorrow’s practitioners. In this session, participants will have the opportunity to discuss future challenges for dietetics practice throughout the world and hear how standards for dietetics education are established in the various countries. The role of standards in improving programs to address practice needs will be addressed. Identify strategies for professional dietetics organizations to work towards harmonization of education standards to improve practice around the world will be shared.

Getting the word out to rural folks about food assistance and improving food stamp program use: a partnership for research and results. Improving financial resources to buy nourishing foods in adequate amounts is an important element in helping population groups such as the elderly, who are vulnerable to food insecurity, to be better able to maintain their health and independance. A Vision for the Future: Food Assistance for Senior Adults is a research and outreach campaign to inform families, particularly older adults living in rural areas, about the availability of, and access to food assistance programs.

Poverty, food insecurity, and obesity: a paradox. In recent years there has been increased dialogue around the perceived paradoxes of obesity, food insecurity and poverty. There are issues of access, quality, income, education – all impacting the perspectives taken around the world. These international perspectives will be examined by members of the global community, who will also present relevant research theories and solutions.

Nutrition education as community development: building community food security. This forum will identify the defining characteristics, principles and values of the community food security (CFS) movement and provides examples of how dietitians might conduct nutrition education within a CFS context. Food-based responses are seen as part of (rather than the soul focus of) initiatives that seek to achieve food security for all, while maximizing community self-reliance and social justice and promoting a sustainable food system. Furthermore, they are rooted in community-led intiatives that build common ground, often with partners uncommon to the field of dietetics.

Coaching to accelerate effectiveness. The role of dietitians is changing from expert sources of nutrition information to “health coaches”, who assist clients to sift through information overload and apply relevant research in practical and specific personal ways. To achieve measurable outcomes, dietetics professionals must shift their focus from the expert model to a respectful client-focused model in which they facilitate learning, champion change and integrate the most current information about behavior change. The session will provide tested, simple and powerful accelerator coaching framework, with opportunities to apply the skills, tools and concepts to real life dietetics practice issues.

Special olympics nutrition programs for healthy athletes. This session will describe the development of a health promotion program within the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program. Nutrition and physical activity are the core components of the Healthy Athletes Promotion Program. Panel members will present information on the formation of nutrition assessment and education for an international program, including the development of healthy athletes in the USA and expansion to Europe, Latin American and Asia. Nutrition assessment data gathered at health promotion events and how the database is used for program development and evaluation will be discussed. Input from attendees will be sought on key nutrition and health promotion messages, interest in expansion to other countries and coordination with allied professionals.

Risk assessment of food supplements for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Food supplement consumption has increased in Ireland over the past decade. Until recently, supplements could be placed on the market without prior safety assessment. In Ireland, concerns were expressed that supplements or alternative medicines could be on sale containing specified risk materials. Learn how an assessment on the types of products available for sale and the ingredients used by the Food Safety Authority has helped to develop a safe food supply.

International initiatives in managing adult obesity. This session will highlight research and clinical trials showing benefits of dairy/calcium in prevention and management of obesity and insulin resistance. The potential impact of dairy/calcium rich diets on obesity and associated co-morbidities on various population levels will be discussed and key components of effective obesity management programs and results in various international settings will be identified.

Dietetics in South Africa – implementing the continuous professional development system. Presenters will share the need for gathering information on dietitians’ demographics, the background to one year compulsory community service for newly qualified dietitians as well as lessons learned from the South African experience in implementing a successful continous professional development (CPD) system. The cornerstone of any profession is the continuous pursuit of knowledge and skills. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) became compulsory for all registered dietitians in South Africa in September 2001.

How to master the long lost art of communication. Grow professionally by using effective skills when communicating orally, through the written word and to the media. Participants will apply workshop information in a practical sense to facilitate own professional needs and many situations.

Eating behavior in eating disorders: treatment and prevention. This session will present the results of a Brazilian study about strategies used by a multidisciplinary team to treat bulimia nervosa. The presenter will use her 8-year experience treating patients with eating disorders both at a public hospital, a Brazilian reference treatment center for these diseases, as well as at private practice. As eating disorders are a new epidemic, and dietitians are the professionals qualified to offer the recommended nutritional therapy, it is very important to discuss patients’ food behaviors rather than just attempting to change mistaken attitudes that characterize the syndrome. Such discussion is also important to prevent eating disorders and for dietitians to provide nutritional guidance regardless of the type of condition.

Pediatric HIV nutrition care strategies. Learn about factors that influence nutritionists’ care decisions in the management of pediatric HIVand the methods and strategies that practititioners use to help patients achieve expected outcomes.

Women: the key to food security. The right to food is a fundamental human right. Yet, millions of people suffer the ravages of hunger and malnutrition or the consequences of food insecurity. The goal of eradicating hunger will only be achieved if the voice of the silent majority of human kind is heard – the voice of women. Experts will address the issues, possible answers and success stories for empowering women to eliminate chronic hunger and malnutrition in the world today.

Tools and technology for active managerial control of food safety and security. Take a walk through your kitchen and what do you see? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified five risk factors that most commonly cause the estimated 76 million cases of foodborne illness annually in the USA. The FDA has validated these problem areas and determined that these five practices exceed 40 percent out-of-compliance ratings of foodservice operations. This session will provide recommendations to be put into immediate use including: identification of risk factors and solutions as well as opportunities for a food security breach, recommend tools and technologies, and flow process monitoring to help the foodservice system achieve the highest level of food safety possible through active managerial control.

The nutrition component of substance abuse programs. Substance abuse is an ideal setting to address complex nutritional issues related to HIV and Hepatitis C co-infection within the substance abuse population and to promote healthy lifestyle choices for the individual and community. Best practices in both residential and outreach settings will be shared and discussed.

Complementary care in pediatrics. Complementary care is growing in popularity throughout North America and other countries. This presentation, focusing on pediatrics, is designed to provide the health professional with an overview, covering complementary care, it’s prevalence and reasons for use. Both the USA and Canada have enacted regulations that impact herbal and dietary supplements. Health professionals will have a better understanding of the safety and efficacy of complementary care and the directions needed for future research.

School nutrition policies in Canada. Participants will navigate the School Policy: Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) Web site to assist them in their future work with school nutrition policies. Compare the status of school nutrition policies in Canada with their own countries (e.g. School Health Policies and Program study USA), determine the applicability of the Canadian survey instrument to their country, identify potential uses for the SPANS Web Site and connect with other session participants who have an interest in school nutrition policies.

Building healthier communities using a social marketing approach: the California project LEAN experience. This session will discuss the process and outcomes of using a community-based social marketing approach in the design of health and nutrition promotional campaigns and low-income population groups in California. Practical tools, strategies, and lessons learned from 12 California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition) regional projects will be highlighted.

Elderly community perspectives. Evaluating nutrition risk of seniors in the community and in institutional settings assists in building and improving services. This session will highlight the Canadian program, Bringing Nutrition Screening to Seniors and the US Minimum Data Set to show how information improves services. Session attendees will dialogue on how screening tools can be used in a local community or institutional setting.

Journey from nutrition science to adequate intake in hospitals. The audience will be given an update of nutrition support in hospitals in a European perspective. The new recommendations of the European Society for Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition will be discussed. In addition, a detailed description will be given of the implementation of these guidelines by Danish Health Authorities and the Copenhagen Hospital Organisation (4,500 beds in six hospitals). At the hospital level, the simultaneous implementation in three hospitals (local, regional, university) will be described.

Healthcare strategies and successes: decreasing costs and increasing satisfaction solutions for food services. In healthcare, professionals are constantly challenged to reduce costs while at the same time expected to increase patient satisfaction. This session will share a number of strategic initiatives in a large multi-site academic acute care facility that focuses on the need to create a vision, the components of patient-focused care, how to integrate multi-site initiatives utilizing the latest technology and the establishment of private/public partnerships. Additional information will be provided on utilizing the balanced scorecard as a tool to facilitate informed decision making and to measure and evaluate outcomes in both financial and patient satisfaction parameters.

Roots to food security (a sustained community-led initiative tackling community food issues in Scotland). How can a thriving capital city, within a major European country that is among the wealthiest on the planet, have such a high proportion of its citizens struggling, and too often failing, to achieve a level of nutrition adequate for basic well-being? Why are so many of those living in relatively affluent circumstances in the city making food choices that are so out of balance in relation to their health needs? How has local community action challenged this and what has been achieved since the inception of the citywide community-food intitiative in 1996? Have the food and health policies of central and devolved governments helped or hindered this work? This session will review the lessons of eight years work on food and health issues in the city. The city looks at potential future work towards securing the means to an adequate and healthy diet for people in Edinburgh, in particular for those living in low-income circumstances and places that work in a national and international context.

Scottish food and health coordinator. This session will address Scotland’s three key national objectives to improve health through a muti-element diet and nutrition action plan which are: implementation of the next phase of the Scottish Diet Action Plan to the extent that it has a measurable, incremental impact in Scotland each year to 2010; Support an integrated program, launched in January 2003, of communication and public education, in the context of the wider health improvement agenda, to increase demand for, confidence in and skills for healthy eating. Measure food consumption between 2003 and 2010 to monitor progress toward the targets set out in the Scottish Diet Action Plan using the Scottish Healthy Survey.

Criteria and classification of obesity in Japan and Asia-oceania region. A study from WHO defined the criteria of obesity as BMI greater than 30. Major causes of obesity in Japan will be discussed.

Evidence-based medicine: how does it apply to nutrition?. Evidence based medicine has become accepted as the preferred way to develop clinical practice guidelines for nutrition care. The systems used to develop evidence based guides in various systems, examples of nutrition guides developed under these systems, and how these guides have been applied internationally will be reviewed. Weight management will be summarized and compared. The use of diabetes and renal guidelines developed in the USA and their application in other cultures/countries will be discussed.

Spotlight on population-based approaches to nutriton monitoring and surveillance. This session will describe dietary intake monitoring of food and nutrients using community-level approaches and will identify opportunities and challenges for dietetics professionals to use national surveys for assessment and planning in various countries.

Spotlight on nutritional monitoring and surveillance of high risk groups. Presenters will explain list-based surveillance mechanisms in the development of dietetics service delivery models for high risk groups, who as a result of illness or special needs, have particular nutrition needs, e.g. children with Duchene’s muscular dystrophy, renal disease, or HIV/AIDS.

Around the world with cook-chill: part 1. This session will identify and discuss success stories, challenges, implementation strategies and issues, labor implications, cost effectiveness and quality assurance issues associated with cook-chill technology used in a variety of programs and facilities around the world.

Around the world with cook-chill: part 2. This session will identify and discuss success stories, challenges, implementation strategies and issues, labor implications, cost effectiveness and quality assurance issues associated with cook-chill technology used in a variety of programs and facilities around the world.

Can biotechnology feed the world? Biotechnology and food security in developing countries. In this session, dietetics professionals will hear internationally renowned experts, an ethicist and a dietitian working in Africa, debate the issue of the impact of biotechnology on food security from a variety of perspectives.

How food choices and trade policy affect health and global food security. What do food choices and trade policy have to do with each other? How do they affect health and food security? Why should dietetics professionals care? An international panel of experts will consider these questions, making the abstract details of trade policy concrete, real and relevant to the everyday practices of consumers and dietitians.

Cultivating communities of practice (Frances Fisher lecture). This session will define the concept of “communities of practice” and how excellence in professional practice can be the foundation for building healthy communities. This session honors the American leader Frances Fisher, who influenced her community and profession by building community nutrition education strategies.

Implementation and development of communities of practice – a roundtable. Participants will take the concepts presented in the session, Cultivating communities of practice, and learn to apply the principles to support knowledge transfer and learning in a community. They will also prepare to support and participate in the evolving international community of dietetics practice over the next four years.

Can regulation decrease hospital malnutrition?. The audience will explore the pros and cons of a regulatory approach to decrease hospital malnutrition by examining several programs that require nutrition screening and/or assessment of patients.

Nutrigenomics: another piece of the puzzle. This session will develop your understanding of the meaning and implications of nutrigenomics and how this scientific discovery may grow in importance and ultimately shape the future practice of dietetics. Explore how the results of current research in this area could affect individual diet practices and discuss the associated ethical issues.

Kellogg symposium – community intervention programs – applying what we know. This was an interactive session with audience participation.

Ethics and standards: the underpinnings of a quality professional practice. Members will explore ways that the international dietetic community can advance through quality practice. This interactive session will identifying issues that relate to an international ethical basis of practice and international standards of practice.

Introduction of a quality program: the Swiss registered dietitians example. In Switzerland, registered dietitians have been in the law on health insurance since 1997. Consultations made by the registered dietitians are paid by the patient’s insurance (mandatory in Switzerland for everybody) under certain conditions. One of the conditions is to have measures of benefit quality. Therefore the Swiss Registered Dietitians association has developed a program and tools all members can use to improve their professional practice.

Dietitians around the world: their education and their work. During the 13th International Congress of Dietetics in Edinburgh, 2000, delegates from the national dietetic associations agreed on a mission statement for International Confederation of Dietetic Associations (ICDA): ICDA supports dietetic associations and their members, beyond national and regional boundaries, by achieving an integrated communications system, an enhanced image for the profession and an increased awareness of standards of education, training and practice in dietetics. The Board of Directors decided that the first step in working towards increased awareness of standards of education, training and practice in dietetics was to make information available. The data collected from 30 national dietetic associations will be reported and discussed.

Disaster plans: are you ready?. In this session participants will learn about and discuss the key components and resources to include in disaster plans for internal and external emergencies and how institutions and relief agencies can mobilize volunteers, resources and funds in international disaster situations. Highlights of recent international relief efforts by the American Red Cross and Catholic Relief Services will be shared.

International approaches to school feeding programs. This panel will provide an overview of school feeding programs in Japan, Sweden and the USA. Speakers will provide perspective on the importance of school nutrition programs in improving the health status of children. Program similarities and results will be examined.

The pros and cons of the Glycemic Index. This session will address lifestyle strategies that are importantfor the prevention of type 2 diabetes worldwide. Examples of research and two strategies to help promote individual lifestyle changes to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes in people at high risk will be discussed. Participants will learn what conclusions can be drawn from research findings about the importance of using the glycemic index in the practice of dietetics.

Food biotechnology: how should dietetics professionals communicate with consumers and other stakeholders?. Learn how compromise between food biotechnology activists and food industry can facilitate progress towards global food security in this interactive session. Build your understanding of how food biotechnology will affect community food security and public health and how dietitians can influence policy change on these issues. Learn how dietitians can effectively communicate with consumers on complex issues related to food biotechnology risk.

Hunger – a real threat to the global peace and stability. Hunger is a real threat for global peace and stability. Food is a fundamental human right. The current level of hunger in the world is unacceptable in the world of abundance. The experts working in the area of food insecurity should devise ways and means to eradicate this epidemic. This session will address wide-ranging issues impacting on hunger the local and global politics of food; food as a basic human right; food safety and consumer risk perceptions; impact of new food technologies on food security; sustainable agriculture; charitable food distribution; food insecurity in vulnerable populations; policies and programs affecting food security.