Integrating diet therapy and dietary counseling: an alternative education technique

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a change in education methods on learning among students enrolled in a coordinated undergraduate program (CUP). An experimental process applying the principles of diet therapy and counseling in a situation involving volunteer clients was initiated, and the effects were measured. A pretest-post-test design was used for this investigation. Two psychometric instruments, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Affective Sensitivity Scale, were used to measure changes in attitudes, values, and aptitude. The curriculum of the treatment group (19 juniors in the CUP) was reorganized so that diet therapy and dietary counseling would be taught during the same semester. The laboratory sessions were combined the last 6 weeks of the semester to provide an opportunity for students to counsel clients recruited from the university campus. The comparison group (11 seniors in the CUP) had enrolled in diet therapy the first semester of the junior year and dietetic counseling the second semester; those students were tested during their senior year. The research indicated that the students in the treatment group learned effectively. They significantly increased their awareness, listening, and understanding during the treatment period. The post-test of the treatment group indicated that they had increased perception and more acute affective sensitivity in comparison with the control group.