Announcing new collaboration between Monash University and NNEdPro Global Centre



Professor Sue Elliot, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Monash University, and Professor Sumantra Ray, NNEdPro Founding Chair and Executive Director, Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, signing the MoU



The Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food at Monash University (Monash Nutrition) is excited to announce a new collaboration between Monash University and NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health, an international group of experts in nutrition education and medicine anchored at the University of Cambridge in the UK. The collaboration addresses a well-known knowledge gap in the medical and healthcare sectors – the depth of medical professionals’ understanding of nutrition and its role in health and disease prevention. The collaboration will see NNEdPro recognise the Monash Nutrition suite of Food as Medicine online courses, which are accredited in Australia and the UK, as a pathway for doctors and other healthcare professionals to become a member of NNEdPro’s International Academy of Nutrition Educators (IANE); a membership scheme which has just been launched in collaboration with the US-based Society for Nutrition Education and Behaviour (SNEB) and Monash University.

Who are NNEdPro?
NNEdPro, or as it’s more formally known ‘the Need for Nutrition Education and Innovation Programme’, is an award-winning training academy, interdisciplinary network and research consortium, comprised of multidisciplinary experts in nutrition, medicine, healthcare and public health. Put simply, NNEdPro works to improve nutrition-related health outcomes for patients by providing relevant, up-to-date and nuanced training and support to healthcare professionals in the areas of food, nutrition and health. The newly launched The International Academy of Nutrition Educators (IANE) draws from over a decade of experience in developing and delivering high quality nutrition education and evaluating its impact, particularly on healthcare practices. For this membership scheme, NNEdPro partnered with the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB); a US based organisation that represents the unique professional interests of nutrition educators worldwide. SNEB is dedicated to promoting effective nutrition education and communication to support and improve healthful behaviours and has a vision of healthy communities through nutrition education and advocacy.

Monash Nutrition and Nutrition Education
Monash Nutrition’s aim to provide relevant and useful education to doctors and healthcare professionals in the areas of food, nutrition and healthcare directly aligns with the goals of NNEdPro. As such, we are proud to be a part of the Australian-New Zealand Network of NNEdPro, in the form of the ANZ NNEdPro steering committee. Through this, Monash Nutrition can continue to strongly advocate for increased awareness of the importance of nutrition strategies as part of routine medical care, and greater access for all healthcare professionals to nutrition education relevant to their discipline.

Impact
Currently, medical curricula around the world lack sufficient nutrition content to effectively equip doctors with practical skills and information to provide useful nutrition advice and recommendations to patients. [1] This collaboration is an important first step in assisting healthcare professionals to gain the crucial knowledge and skills they need to advocate for improved nutrition within healthcare and to discuss and implement simple nutrition strategies with their patients. While dietitians and nutritionists are one of the best-placed professions to provide nutrition care and strategies, it is essential to involve doctors and other healthcare professionals in the conversation. While nutrition is involved in nearly every aspect of healthcare, not everyone will be able to access specialised advice from a nutrition professional. As such, by expanding healthcare professionals’ toolkit of skills and knowledge, all members of a multidisciplinary healthcare team can work together in improving the health of their patients.

This partnership recognises Monash Nutrition’s suite of Food as Medicine courses, which provide a flexible, online learning environment for doctors and healthcare professionals anywhere in the world. The online courses provide nutrition education, including the latest research in the field, and relevant practical case studies. Through this collaboration, completion of these courses will now allow doctors and healthcare professionals to apply for membership to the IANE, which will provide members with bespoke support and mentorship to implement nutrition into practice, access to a global network of medical nutrition experts and knowledge symposia, and numerous opportunities to partake in public health nutrition advocacy initiatives through NNEdPro’s partnership with governmental and non-governmental organisations. Completion of these courses will also enable interested professionals to apply for SNEB membership at discounted rates.

Monash University and NNEdPro hope this collaboration will provide increased access to nutrition education for doctors and healthcare professionals and continue to raise awareness about the critical role of nutrition in health.

References:
  1. Adamski, M. , Gibson, S. , Leech, M. and Truby, H. (2018), Are doctors nutritionists? What is the role of doctors in providing nutrition advice?. Nutr Bull, 43: 147-152. doi:10.1111/nbu.12320 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nbu.12320

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