Determination of attitudes and behaviors of health professions towards dieticians

Kart, R. Determination of attitudes and behaviors of health professions towards Dieticians, Başkent University İnstitute of Health Sciences, Department of nutrition and dietetics Master's thesis. This study was planned to determine the attitudes and behaviors of health professions towards dieticians. One hundret and seventy health workers between the ages of 18 and 65 who work at Dr. Rıdvan Ege Training and Research Hospital participated voluntarily. Data of the study were collected by using a questionnare between February and March 2018. The questionnaire used to collect the data includes demographic characteristics, nutrition knowledge, attitudes towards dietary/ dietician and Team Work Attitudes Scale (TWAS). 69.4% of the participating individuals were female, 30.6% were male and the average age was 35.7211.45 years. 97% of the individuals participating in the study stated that those who completed the 4 years nutrition and dietetic degree program were dietitians and 54.6% of individuals answered the most reliable nutririton information source as " dietitian''. The lowest score that can be obtained from the TWAS used in the study is 66, the highest score is 136 and the average score of the participants is 108.6911.11. It was determined that the lowest number of patients were directed to dietitian from the Department of Basic Medical Sciences and this department had the lowest average TWAS score. The highest average score of TWAS belongs to the Department of Internal Sciences and the employees in this unit stated that health workers and physicians as well as dietitians should participate in patient visits. Even though the participants gave time to colleagues and patients and indicated that they could communicate with the dietician when necessary, it was found that the communication skills of the individuals and their life style sensitivity decreased as the average of the TWAS scores increased. As a conclusion with the support of top management, in-service training programs that will strengthen the team's work are required. Keywords: Dietitian, health professional, teamwork, team work attitudes