2. Major Themes: Trends and Their
Implications for Dietetics Practice
• 2010: “Future Scan”
• Identified 10 “change drivers” predicted to
influence the future of dietetics and the
demand for dietetics services
3. Change Driver #1
The Aging of America
• Between 2000 and 2020, the elderly
population will grow by over 36%.
• The dietetics profession will
experience an attrition rate of 2–5%.
4. Workforce Opportunities
• Increased demand for geriatric care,
especially in institutional settings.
• Older career changers may consider
nutrition careers.
• Businesses offering wellness
programs for senior workers.
5. Change Driver #2
Population and Workforce Diversity
• Racial and ethnic minorities now make up
more than half of the children born in the
U.S.
• Increasing need for cultural competence
among dietetics professionals and to
recruit new dietetics professionals from
among these racial and ethnic groups.
6. Workforce Opportunities
• Poor nutrition will drive demand for
community dietetics practitioners.
• Foodservice and consulting dietetics
practitioners will be vital to improving
school food programs.
• Increased funding for chronic disease
prevention will drive demand for dietetics
practitioners.
7. Change Driver #3
Workforce Education
• Healthcare jobs are a growth area,
including dietetics.
• Online education makes pursuing
continuing education or new career
education more convenient.
• Online dietetics education programs and
distance internships may help make
dietetics even more attractive for those
seeking a new career.
8. Workforce Opportunities
• Interprofessional learning could expand
the number of dietetics and nutrition
specialists.
• Healthcare career opportunities are
growing and are perceived as more
secure.
9. Change Driver #4
Interdisciplinary Teaming Drives
Innovation
• Dietetics professionals must learn to work even
more collaboratively with other healthcare team
members.
• Dietetics professionals must be ready to step up
and assume leadership on interdisciplinary
teams in clinical nutrition, health
promotion/disease prevention, or foodservice
system management.
10. Workforce Opportunities
• Nutrition is central to health and critical to
solving many health-related challenges.
• Registered dietitians can assume new
roles as team leaders and coordinators.
• Teaming could bring together the three
primary sectors of dietetics: clinical, health
promotion/disease prevention, and food
production and foodservice.
11. Change Driver #5
Generalists Gain an Edge
on Specialists
• New entrants to the dietetics profession
will need to be broadly educated for
careers that will morph many times to
meet new demands for food and nutrition
expertise.
• What will be the place of specialty
credentials and advanced practice in
dietetics?
12. Workforce Opportunities
• RDs can migrate with health care out of
the clinical setting.
• RDs may be a step ahead in adopting the
skills to lead interdisciplinary teams.
• Management opportunities in dietetics
offer better compensation and career
growth.
13. Change Driver #6
Technology Transforms
Nutrition Counseling
• The use of social media and other technology
will enable healthcare providers and their
patients to interact and stay in touch anywhere
in the world.
• We will have the capability to collect, monitor,
and interpret health data at a moment’s notice.
• Dietetics professionals need to be continually
learning about new technologies as well as
helping to create them.
14. Workforce Opportunities
• Demand for nutrition information in food systems
will increase.
• Expert systems can improve patient care and
free time for dietitians to provide higher-value
services.
• Virtual worlds will provide more avenues to
reach and influence patients.
• Advanced modeling and simulation technology
will allow greater personalization of diet plans.
15. Change Driver #7
Personalized Nutrition Evolves
• Nutritional genomics or nutrigenomics: The
study of how foods affect our genes and how
individual genetic differences can affect the way
we respond to nutrients in the foods we eat.
• Screening for genetic disorders will create new
opportunities for advanced practice RDs who are
trained in genetics.
• Early intervention and counseling can prevent
serious or even life-threatening disabilities.
16. Workforce Opportunities
• Early testing will identify the best candidates for
nutrition intervention and counseling, thereby
expanding reimbursement for these services.
• Better outcomes research will shift funds to
prevention rather than treatment, creating more
demand for nutrition counseling and
intervention.
• Opportunities for dietetics practitioners will
appear first in sports nutrition and geriatric care.
17. Change Driver #8
Food Industry Transforms for
Public Priorities
• Today’s consumers are more interested in
healthful eating, where their food is coming from,
and how it has been handled during its
production.
• Food companies must be ready to answer
consumer questions, respond to consumer
preferences, and meet the government’s
demands for industry support of public health.
• New requirement for restaurants to provide
nutrition information on their menus.
18. Workforce Opportunities
• Entrepreneurial niches will open up for risk
takers.
• These career opportunities might make
the dietetics profession attractive to
people with business and environmental
interests.
• Food is a necessity, and jobs will always
exist for those who provide it.
19. Change Driver #9
Healthcare Reform Boosts Access
to Dietetics Services
• The Affordable Care Act focuses more on
health promotion/disease prevention.
• Implementation of the Act could provide
dietetics professionals the opportunity to
be vitally important players in the new
healthcare paradigm.
20. Change Driver #10
Uncertainty of Public Support and Funding for
Health Initiatives and Prevention Strategies
• Public support and funding for health initiatives
and prevention strategies is very uncertain.
• Our society suffers from widespread chronic
disease, obesity, and other challenges.
• Nutrition interventions led by dietetics
professionals must be a priority for the future
health of our nation.
21. The Future for
Dietetics Professionals
• 2010–2020: Projected job growth rate of 20%.
• New jobs will result from an increasing emphasis
on disease prevention through improved dietary
habits.
• Dietitians are gaining skills in disciplines such as
pharmacy, exercise physiology, biochemistry,
culinary arts, communication, and business.
22. The Future Dietetic
Technician, Registered
• The DTR is an important and vital member of
the dietetics team.
• Using the Nutrition Care Process, the DTR will
be actively engaged in health promotion and
disease prevention through identification of
specific client or community needs.
• DTRs practice as directed or under the
supervision of RDs with varying degrees of
autonomy, depending on the complexity of the
operation.
23. The Future Entry-Level RD
• Wide range of practice areas
• Foundational practice elements including:
– Provision of patient-centered care
– Use of evidence-based practice and professional
judgment
– Analysis, interpretation, and application of research
– Utilization of informatics
– Demonstration of leadership in multidisciplinary teams
– Contribution to the advancement of food and nutrition
policy through advocacy
24. The Future Advanced-Level RD
• Practice settings include:
– Clinical health care
– Higher education
– Health promotion/disease prevention
– Food and/or food production and service
systems
– Public policy
– Research
