Kikomeko Peterson Kato, Ochola Sophie, Kaaya Archileo N, Ogada Irene, Birungi Tracy Lukiya, Nakitto Peace
Department of Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics, Kenyatta University, P.O Box 43844, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, Kyambogo University, P.O Box, 1 Kyambogo, Kampala, Uganda.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 Jan 27;21(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-06090-3.
Effective implementation of nutrition and dietetics interventions necessitates professionals in these fields to possess the requisite competencies for health systems performance. This study explored the stakeholders' perceptions of the community nutrition and dietetics needs, the nature of work done by graduates of the Bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition/Human Nutrition and Dietetics (HN/HND), and the competencies required of Nutrition and Dietetics professionals in Uganda.
A cross-sectional mixed methods design was used. Respondents included 132 graduates of the Bachelor's degrees in HN/HND obtained from the Makerere and Kyambogo Universities in 2005-2016; 14 academic staff that train HN/HND in the two universities; and 11 HN/HND work/internship supervisors. Data from the graduates was collected through an email-based survey; data from other participants was through face to face interviews using researcher administered questionnaires.
Most HN/HND respondents (84.8%) obtained their Bachelor's degrees from Kyambogo University; 61.4% graduated in 2013-2016. Most (64.3%) academic staff respondents were females and the majority (57.1%) had doctorate training. All stakeholders viewed communities as facing a variety of nutrition and dietetics challenges cutting across different Sustainable Development Goals. The nutrition and dietetics interventions requested for, provided, and considered a priority for communities were both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive. Work done by HN/HND graduates encompassed seven main competency domains; the dominant being organizational leadership and management; management of nutrition-related disease conditions; nutrition and health promotion; research; and advocacy, communication, and awareness creation.
This study shows that nutrition and dietetics challenges in Uganda are multiple and multifaceted; HN/HND graduates are employed in different sectors, provide nutrition-specific and sensitive services in a multisectoral environment, and are expected to possess a variety of knowledge and skills. However, graduates have knowledge and skills gaps in some of the areas they are expected to exhibit competency. We recommend using these findings as a basis for obtaining stakeholder consensus on the key competencies that should be exhibited by all HN/HND graduates in Uganda; developing a HN/HND competency-based education model and a national HN/HND training and practice standard; and undertaking further research to understand the quality and relevancy of HN/HND curricula to Uganda's job market requirements.
有效实施营养与饮食干预措施需要这些领域的专业人员具备卫生系统绩效所需的能力。本研究探讨了利益相关者对社区营养与饮食需求的看法、人类营养学/人类营养与饮食学（HN/HND）学士学位毕业生的工作性质，以及乌干达营养与饮食专业人员所需的能力。
采用横断面混合方法设计。受访者包括2005 - 2016年从马凯雷雷大学和坎帕拉国际大学获得HN/HND学士学位的132名毕业生；在这两所大学培训HN/HND的14名学术人员；以及11名HN/HND工作/实习主管。毕业生的数据通过基于电子邮件的调查收集；其他参与者的数据通过使用研究人员管理的问卷进行面对面访谈收集。
大多数HN/HND受访者（84.8%）从坎帕拉国际大学获得学士学位；61.4%于2013 - 2016年毕业。大多数（64.3%）学术人员受访者为女性，大多数（57.1%）拥有博士学位。所有利益相关者都认为社区面临着跨越不同可持续发展目标的各种营养与饮食挑战。所要求的、提供的以及被认为是社区优先事项的营养与饮食干预措施既有针对营养的，也有对营养敏感的。HN/HND毕业生的工作涵盖七个主要能力领域；主要的是组织领导与管理；营养相关疾病状况的管理；营养与健康促进；研究；以及宣传、沟通和意识培养。
本研究表明，乌干达的营养与饮食挑战是多方面的；HN/HND毕业生受雇于不同部门，在多部门环境中提供针对营养的和敏感的服务，并应具备多种知识和技能。然而，毕业生在一些预期应具备能力的领域存在知识和技能差距。我们建议将这些发现作为基础，以就乌干达所有HN/HND毕业生应展现的关键能力达成利益相关者共识；制定基于能力的HN/HND教育模式以及国家HN/HND培训和实践标准；并进行进一步研究，以了解HN/HND课程对乌干达就业市场要求的质量和相关性。
