Nutrition for Health Professionals is a series of six Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on-line courses that focus on assessing, managing, and promoting child, adolescent, and maternal nutrition. The courses will be delivered through interactive, case based online learning and will integrate cross-cutting themes of gender, WASH and nutrition. Courses are being developed collaboratively by the Increase Gains in Nutrition by Integration, Education, Evaluation, Empowerment (IGNIT3) partners led by The Hospital for Sick Children in Canada and local implementing partners – Aga Khan University in Pakistan, the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives and Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Malawi.
Consultations with country level health systems and education system leaders in Ghana, Malawi, and Pakistan, revealed the need for improved access to CPDs in nutrition across health professional cadres by building on and reinforcing what is taught at the pre-service level. Lepre et al’s 2022 critical synthesis reinforces the need for a nutritional knowledgeable workforce globally and recommends prioritising nutrition education and capacity building, standardising nutrition curricula for all healthcare sector, and developing and expanding online resources. Currently there is a paucity of online, accessible CPDs on nutrition for health professionals especially for those who work with patients and families in the hospital setting and that integrate new guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the prevention and management of wasting and nutritional oedema in infants and children under 5 years (WHO, 2023).
While each course has its specific objectives, the overarching objectives of the course series are:
- Outline the foundational concepts in nutrition, and describe the relationship between these concepts and health outcomes for infants, children, adolescents, and women of reproductive age
- Demonstrate skills required for assessing and promoting good nutrition in infants, children,
adolescents, and women of reproductive age - Describe how the health care team can manage nutrition issues and malnutrition in infants, children, adolescents, and women of reproductive age
- Explain the importance of intersectoral aspects of nutrition, including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), climate change and gender and the impact of these on the health and nutritional status of children and families
About IGNIT3 Project:
Launched in 2023, Increase Gains in Nutrition by Integration, Education, Evaluation & Empowerment (IGNIT3) is a sustainable capacity-building project in Ghana, Malawi and Pakistan led by The Centre for Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), in collaboration with Nutrition International and WaterAid Canada. This project, funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada, aims to improve nutrition for women, adolescent girls, and children in all three countries over five years (2023 to 2028). Local implementing partners include Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (GCNM), Aga Khan University (AKU), Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) and WaterAid country offices in Ghana, Malawi and Pakistan and Nutrition International countries offices in Malawi and Pakistan.
