Role of Private Practice Dietitians in Working With People With Mental Illness: A Constructivist-Interpretivist...

This study aimed to explore dietitians' views, experiences, and perceived barriers and enablers to working with people with mental illness in Australian private and public mental health settings, with a focus on clarifying the contribution of private practice dietitians to mental healthcare.

A combination of convenience and snowball sampling was used to recruit dietitians who primarily work in private practice or public mental health sectors. Virtual semi-structured interviews were conducted in two discrete 3-6-month blocks between 2021 and 2024. A constructivist-interpretivist approach informed the development of the interview guide, data collection and analysis processes. Semi-structured interviews explored experiences, facilitators and barriers of private practice dietitians working with people with mental illness. Data were analysed by three authors using reflexive thematic analysis using semantic, inductive coding.

In total, 14 dietitians completed interviews, comprising 7 working in private practice settings and 7 in public mental health services. Data adequacy was reached with interviews generating 5 main themes and 15 subthemes. Themes included (1) the complex needs of people living with mental illness, (2) access barriers and enablers to private practice dietitian services, (3) gaps in mental health-specific training and support for dietetics, (4) structural limitations of the private healthcare systems and (5) advantages of integrated care in specialised mental healthcare settings for working with people with mental illness.

To harness the full potential of private practice dietitians in mental healthcare requires targeted reforms to funding, training and referral systems to ensure equitable, community-based nutrition support.