Dietetic Workforce Development in Canada and Australia: Towards a Critical Policy Approach.

Area of Science:

• Public Health Policy
• Health Workforce Development
• Sustainable Food Systems

Background:

• The dietetics profession requires adaptation to address evolving issues like sustainable food systems and workforce diversity.
• Australia and Canada share priorities in dietetics, including decolonizing professional structures and workforce representation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically analyze regulatory approaches in Australian and Canadian dietetics education and workforce readiness policies.
• To compare policy implementation and identify potential inequities in professional development.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a critical policy analysis approach to scrutinize policy development and enactment systems.
• Examining how policies reinforce or challenge the status quo and benefit different groups.

Main Results:

• While scopes of practice are similar, approaches to ensuring competence to practice vary between Australia and Canada.
• Policy variations offer opportunities to analyze historical contexts and evidence informing current dietetics practice.

Conclusions:

• Both Australia and Canada can benefit from a more critical review of their dietetics policy approaches.
• A critical policy approach can identify historical contexts and potential inequitable impacts, fostering profession-wide transformation.