Effect of a helping skills transfer program on dietitians' helping behavior

Area of Science:

• Dietetics
• Nutrition Education
• Communication Skills Training

Background:

• Effective helping relationships are crucial for successful dietary counseling.
• Evidence regarding dietitians' communication skills in fostering these relationships is limited.
• Nutrition students require training to develop essential client interaction abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of communication skills training on nutrition students' ability to form helping relationships with clients.
• To assess whether specific training enhances students' counseling effectiveness.
• To investigate the correlation between trained skills and client relationship development.

Main Methods:

• Nutrition students received targeted training in communication and helping skills.
• Trained students participated in dietary counseling sessions.
• Session interactions were analyzed to measure the use of specific verbal responses indicative of helping relationships.

Main Results:

• Students trained in helping skills demonstrated a significant increase in using verbal responses that conveyed empathy and understanding.
• The training facilitated a greater expression of willingness to assist clients.
• Trained students showed improved ability to accurately reflect clients' concerns.

Conclusions:

• Communication and helping skills training is effective in enhancing nutrition students' ability to build rapport with clients.
• Such training is vital for developing competent dietitians capable of effective client-centered counseling.
• Interpersonal skills development should be integrated into nutrition education curricula.