Building a resilient future workforce: Analysis of initiatives in Australian and New Zealand dietetics curricula

Abstract

Aim: Dietitians work in high-pressure environments and student dietitians attend placement in these settings. Resilience is a personal quality that can buffer against the stressors of professional placement; however, little is known about how dietetics students learn resilience. This study aimed to describe how resilience is embedded within Australian and New Zealand dietetics curricula. Methods: This three-phased qualitative study examined 18 credentialed dietetics education programs in Australia (n = 16) and New Zealand (n = 2). In Phase 1 (document analysis), publicly available curricular documents were screened for key resilience terms. In Phase 2, academics were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview on Microsoft Teams to verify and advance upon documentary evidence. Extracted data were combined and evaluated according to Bloom's Taxonomy in Phase 3. Results: Fifty-six courses were found to have documented mentions of resilience factors from dietetics programs in Australia and New Zealand. Academics from 14 universities (12 Australia and 2 New Zealand) were interviewed. Three themes were identified from Phase 3: Resilience is valuable content within a dietetics degree, Resilience can be taught indirectly throughout programs and Resilience education is not static. Resilience education was mostly taught by academic dietitians in courses prior to placement and assessed by students completing self-reflection while on placement. The documentation of resilience within learning objectives and graduate attributes varied between universities. Conclusion: While all dietetics programs included some resilience curricula, academics acknowledged that resilience content and their own knowledge base could be strengthened. The findings provide direction for program improvements and further research.