Changing dietitians' attitudes toward client counseling

Based on experiences with and observations of dietitians with responsibilities for client counseling, a course was designed to teach them the skills necessary to help clients manage their nutritional care at home, as well as to improve the dietitians' attitudes toward client education. A tool involving the development of Likert-type, summated scale was developed to measure dietians' attitudes. Statements were collected and subjected to item analysis. After such culling, statements discriminating between dietians with positive attitudes and those with less than positive attitudes were retained. During the first session of the class, the instrument was administered; the average mean value of the sample (N = 30) was 3.63. The post-instruction mean score was 4.14. After the course, dietitians demonstrated more positive attitudes toward clients, educational methods, and client counseling.