Private practice in rural areas: An untapped opportunity for dietitians
Author(s)
Brown, Leanne J
Mitchell, Lana J
Williams, Lauren T
Macdonald-Wicks, Lesley
Capra, Sandra
Year published
2011
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the current demography of rural dietetic private practice and to determine the drivers and barriers for further development. Design: A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was used. Document searches and semistructured in-depth individual interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Setting: Six rural case study sites of dietetic service delivery in rural northern New South Wales. Participants: Forty key informants including past and present dietitians, dietetic managers and health service managers were recruited, of these a subset of 15 ...
View more >Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the current demography of rural dietetic private practice and to determine the drivers and barriers for further development. Design: A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was used. Document searches and semistructured in-depth individual interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Setting: Six rural case study sites of dietetic service delivery in rural northern New South Wales. Participants: Forty key informants including past and present dietitians, dietetic managers and health service managers were recruited, of these a subset of 15 interviews included discussion or comments about private practice in rural areas. Main outcomes measures: Themes identified from the interview transcripts, Medicare enhanced primary care consultation data and public/private dietetic staffing levels from document searches. Results: Private practice staffing ranged between 0% and 26% of the dietetic workforce across the six sites in 2006. Themes relating to the drivers and barriers for private practice were identified: financial factors, job satisfaction, opportunities for private practice and establishing private practice. Conclusions: There is an opportunity for growth of private practice to meet the gap in public dietetic services in rural areas.
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View more >Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the current demography of rural dietetic private practice and to determine the drivers and barriers for further development. Design: A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was used. Document searches and semistructured in-depth individual interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Setting: Six rural case study sites of dietetic service delivery in rural northern New South Wales. Participants: Forty key informants including past and present dietitians, dietetic managers and health service managers were recruited, of these a subset of 15 interviews included discussion or comments about private practice in rural areas. Main outcomes measures: Themes identified from the interview transcripts, Medicare enhanced primary care consultation data and public/private dietetic staffing levels from document searches. Results: Private practice staffing ranged between 0% and 26% of the dietetic workforce across the six sites in 2006. Themes relating to the drivers and barriers for private practice were identified: financial factors, job satisfaction, opportunities for private practice and establishing private practice. Conclusions: There is an opportunity for growth of private practice to meet the gap in public dietetic services in rural areas.
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Journal Title
Australian Journal of Rural Health
Volume
19
Issue
4
Subject
Nutrition and dietetics not elsewhere classified