Exploring Dietary Assessment Practices and Use of Electronic Dietary Assessment Tools in Team-Based Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

In primary care (PC) health providers are delivering nutrition advice and counselling to patients. Yet, a number of challenges have been identified in conducting dietary assessment (DA). Electronic DA (e-DA) tools within mobile apps or websites can potentially facilitate DA in team-based PC. The objective of the study was to explore current DA practices and use of e-DA tools by various disciplines of health providers in Family Health Teams (FHTs) using a mixed-methods sequential design. Data collection included interdisciplinary focus groups (FGs) and a web-based survey. Fifty health providers from various disciplines participated in 11 FGs. Identified themes included: 1) Assessment of diet in an interdisciplinary fashion; 2) Improvement of patients’ eating habits with use of e-DA tools; 3) Support of health providers with use of e-DA tools; and, 4) Integration of e-DA tools into FHTs. One hundred and ninety-one health providers from 89 FHTs were included in the web-based survey. The two studies found that most providers offer a DA very frequently with diverse DA methods. The use of e-DA tools by health providers and patients is still low, although registered dietitians significantly use more e-DA tools than other health providers. There was high interest among all disciplines in the use of e-DA tools for the management of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, especially for patient self-monitoring. Several recommendations were suggested to facilitate uptake of e-DA tools into practice.