Educate, then Advocate: Creating Policy Opportunities for Dietetic Students

This webinar was presented live on June 14, 2022. The CPE associated with this activity expires on May 31, 2024.

Federal and state level advocacy efforts have greatly advanced the field of nutrition and dietetics. Successes include the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; expansion and investment in federal nutrition programs; Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance reimbursement; order writing privileges; dietetics licensure/certifications; and consumer protection policies.

Ensuring that RDNs and NDTRs are recognized as nutrition experts will depend on the next generation of dietetics professionals to advocate for policies that impact the lives of the individuals and communities they serve.

This session will feature dietetics educators who have creative solutions for meeting the ACEND 2022 standards pertaining to policy and advocacy. The session will include a discussion of research related to successes and barriers to policy education, perspectives of current and past students as well as suggestions for training dietetics students to be effective advocates.

CPE Level: 2
CPEU:1.5

Performance Indicators

• 3.2.4 Encourages others to engage in personal and professional development activities for career growth and skill enhancement.
• 9.3.5 Uses a variety of strategies to deliver education.
• 3.1.1 Identifies strengths and opportunities for improvement in self and in others

Learning Objectives

• Discuss solutions for overcoming challenges that dietetics educators and students experience with policy-focused supervised practice. 
• Demonstrate how to meet the required ACEND competencies through supervised practice experiences that build skills in nutrition policy and advocacy.
• Describe how policy opportunities in dietetics education prepare students to become dietetics professionals who are confident and effective advocates.

Speakers

• Jessica Garay PhD, RDN, CSCS, FAND
• Sarah Crulcich MPH, RD, LD
• Amy LaFalce MS, RD
• Amanda Berhaupt-Glickstein PhD, RD