Experiences and Perceptions of Rural Dietitians in Australian Primary Care Settings: A Qualitative Research Study...

Consultation with rural dietitians can inform the development of rural telehealth medical nutrition therapy (MNT) interventions and contribute to their effectiveness.

This study aimed to explore dietitians' experiences and perceptions delivering in-person and telehealth MNT in rural primary health care settings in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to inform the development of a rural-based telehealth MNT intervention for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction.

Qualitative study design whereby semistructured interviews were conducted between March and April 2021. Interview topic areas included experiences and perceptions of working in rural areas, delivering telehealth consultations, key factors for successful dietetic consults, the influence of dietetics care on cardiovascular disease prevention, relationships with other health professionals, and the importance of continuity of care.

Dietitians in rural NSW, Australia, who held Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) status or qualified for APD status were eligible to be interviewed.

Interview data were interpreted thematically. Actionable items were developed through iterative discussion and applied to a rural telehealth MNT intervention design.

All dietitians recruited (N = 9) participated in an interview. Key themes interpreted from the data included building trusting therapeutic relationships, using telehealth as a nuanced tool, and valuing each health care team member. Actionable items developed from these themes included recruiting rural-based dietitians for service delivery, training dietitians in online rapport-building skills and telehealth software, providing a flexible telehealth service, and ensuring the service facilitates optimal communication with general practitioner (GP) physicians.

Consultation with dietitians working in rural areas can offer valuable insight into rural dietetics practice and inform the development of rural telehealth MNT interventions. Future research investigating telehealth MNT interventions could consider using the actionable items developed in this research study. Researchers and service designers may also consider consultation with local practitioners to inform place-based solutions for their own telehealth interventions.